War of Love
by Z98
Summary: When Hinata is faced with a fiance from an arranged marriage, the young shinobi must face the torrent of emotions within her. Now she must question who her heart belongs to. But the greatest unknown is the objective of her mysterious courter.
1. Prologue

My good friend Jiri-chan, whom some of you might know over the net, got me addicted to Naruto. Unfortunately, when I like something, I have to write something. So here goes nothing. I just know the Naruto x Hinata fans are going to want to kill me.

War of Love

Prologue: The Present

"So you're from Hidden Waterfall, are you not?" Tsunade stated. "We don't really see too many of your fellow ninjas around here."

The young man gave a slight smile and shrugged. "What can I say? All of us have secrets."

"And your reason for being here?"

"I was invited by Hyuga-sama. Do I need another reason?"

Tsunade scratched her head and shook it. "No, I suppose not. If Hiashi thought you were trustworthy enough to invite you, I don't think I have any complaints either."

"Your trust in me is reassuring."

Tsunade looked at the young man before her but couldn't figure out whether he was being sarcastic or just plain naïve. But then again, a naïve ninja didn't live for long. This kid was a Chuunin, so that meant he had some talent.

"Well, I have no reason to hold you up any longer. Just don't try to pry into our secrets either and we'll leave yours alone."

"Very well, Tsunade-sama."

With a bow the young man turned and disappeared out the door. Tsunade sank back into her chair, a bit puzzled about the newcomer. Though he was a guest, he was also from another shinobi village. Only time would tell what was going on.

+Hyuga Residence+

Shin looked at the massive building in front of him and swallowed. Though he had been here when he was very young, seeing it again certainly did more justice than memory could ever accomplish. He stepped forward and took in everything around him. Every little detail helped him gain more insight into his present situation. When he crossed the threshold, two men appeared before him.

"Shin-sama, I presume?" one man asked.

Shin nodded. He looked closely at the two and took note of their white eyes. They were obviously members of the branch family, guardians of the Hyuga main family.

"Please come with us. Hiashi-sama is waiting for you."

With the two flanking him, Shin walked into the main house and proceeded down its hallways. The paper walls were decorated with artwork of animals and plants. Sunlight reflected off the floor and Shin felt very little dust. As expected, the Hyuga family was well off. They walked through the house and appeared out again in the garden. A few birds few through the air and insects buzzed about. A man in robes was standing in the grass looking down at the pond. The two guards bowed and walked off.

As he stepped forward, Shin imagined he could feel the chakra that the man possessed. It was rumored that the Byakugan could see anything, even the inner system of the body. This allowed the Hyuga family members to attack those systems, making them deadly opponents. No wonder his parents had agreed to this match.

"Hyuga-sama."

"Shin." The older man turned to face him. "You've certainly grown."

A small smile appeared but Shin didn't give away anything else.

"Do you know why I invited you?"

"I can venture a guess. It has to do with the arrangement. Why else would you invite me to spend time here?"

Hiashi nodded. "I want you to spend some time with Hinata. It will help make the transition easier."

"Very well than. Do you happen to know where she is right now?"

"Most likely training. Her skills need much refinement."

Hiashi turned away at that point, leaving Shin slightly confused. If Hiashi cared enough to summon him so he and Hinata could get to know each other better, why would he make a statement like that? The man either had ulterior motives or he was just really strict. Shin started wondering if he hadn't stumbled onto something he wasn't ready for. That would be rather troublesome.

Once out of the estate, Shin simply started walking around the village. It was rather big, especially for a shinobi village. He took note of a few places of interest and continued his little field trip. Finally, as the sun started to set, he went to the main gates and looked out from the battlements. From the people he had spoken to, it seemed that Hinata had been training outside. Most expected her to return by sundown so that was when he went to check things out. Indeed, it wasn't long before he saw four figures walking back. Focusing his eyes, Shin picked up the details of the approaching people. Two of them had white eyes, another had a dog by his side, and the last one was a kid with spiky blond hair.

Shin let another smile appear. The girl was obviously Hinata and the boy probably a member of the branch family. He didn't know who the others were and at the moment didn't care. Though if they were Hinata's friends, he would need to get to know them in the future. With a tap of his foot, Shin launched himself from the battlements and landed in front of the gates. When the four got closer, it was obvious that they didn't know what to make of him. There they were, on two opposing sides. All four of them simply stared at him, though the dog seemed a bit scared of him. Perhaps he smelled it.

As for the four Leaf shinobis, they really didn't know who the newcomer was. He wore a simple flak jacket but didn't have a head protector. If he was a shinobi, there was no telling which village he was from.

"Hey, so who is this guy?" Naruto blurted out, looking at his comrades.

Shin gave all of them a look before settling his eyes on Hinata.

"Hinata-hime, it's a pleasure to meet you again," he said with another small smile.

Naruto and Kiba turned their heads and looked over at a surprised Hinata, though Neji only stared at the newcomer.

"Umm, excuse me, but who are you?" Hinata asked softly.

"Well, I guess I can't expect you to remember me. After all, it's been thirteen years since we last met? It's me, Sentoki Shin."

A look of surprise lit across Hinata's face and Neji seemed to tense up. Since that didn't mean anything to Naruto and Kiba, they stood there staring at the three. Finally Naruto lost his patience and marched forward.

"So who are you?" he asked, putting his face in front of Shin's.

"I think I already told you my name. What else is there for me to say?"

Naruto pointed a finger at Shin and opened his mouth. "You're the stranger here. You're wearing a flak jacket and standing right in front of the gates. We don't even know what village you're from!"

"Naruto!"

The young ninja turned around and looked at Neji.

"Be quiet. You don't know anything about what's going on."

"Eh? So you know this guy?"

Neji nodded darkly and turned his head towards Hinata. "Hinata-sama, perhaps we should find a more private place to talk with him."

Slowly Hinata nodded. "Naruto-kun? Kiba-kun? I'm sorry, but this is kind of a private matter. Sorry."

The two looked at each other and Naruto shrugged. "If you say so, Hinata-chan. I'll see you tomorrow for training."

Hinata gave Naruto a smile and nodded. Since his return, the rookie nine had spent considerable time together. It was time that Hinata cherished as it allowed her to be with Naruto more. Some days all of them were together, while on others just a few of them. But Naruto rarely missed these training outings and Hinata did her best to be there as well.

As Naruto and Kiba walked past, Shin's left eye moved by itself and observed the two. For a moment, it flashed black. Akamaru yipped and jumped behind Kiba. The two paused and stared at Shin again but didn't notice any change. Though they now had good reason to be wary of him, what could they do?

"Hey, Hinata-chan, you sure you want to be alone with this weirdo?" Naruto asked.

"I'll be here," Neji reminded the blond.

Naruto shrugged and nodded. "Well, just make sure he doesn't try anything funny. He gives me a weird feeling."

Naruto being Naruto, he had said all this within Shin's hearing. But the young man didn't pay him much attention. If Naruto didn't like him right now, that was fine. He had other things to worry about. Once the other two had gone, he turned his attention back to Hinata.

"It's certainly been a long time," he said. "You've grown into a beautiful young woman."

"And that is why you are here?" Neji asked.

"I'm here by her father's invitation. Otherwise, I'd still be in my home training."

"Father? But why did he call you down?"

"According to him, he wanted to make the transition smoother."

Hinata gasped a bit while Neji's mood continued to darken.

"To make the transition easier?" he repeated. "And Hinata-sama has no say in such matters?"

Shin shrugged. "It was arranged by our parents, done before either of us could have put forward an opinion."

"And yet these things can be changed," Neji replied. His encounter with Naruto had certainly proved that quite pointedly.

"Are you Hinata-hime's spokesperson? Let her speak for herself."

Neji was taken aback by the comment and looked over to Hinata. She seemed uncertain as to what to do.

"All I ask is that I be given a chance before I'm condemned," he said. "That certainly sounds fair, does it not?"

"What reason does Hinata-sama have to give you a chance?"

Shin shrugged again. "It would make things go over easier with her father, I suppose."

The statement about her father brought Hinata out of her daze and her eyes focused.

"But why are you here, personally?" Hinata suddenly asked, her voice a lot stronger than Neji could remember in recent memory.

"Me? I just wanted to see you again. Either way, in another three years I would have come. However, I decided it might be better if we actually knew each other."

"So you're here to see whether you want to go through with it?"

"More or less." Shin shifted a bit on his feet and sighed. "Hinata-hime, I am here for my own personal reasons. I just ask for a chance to get to know you. But I can assure you, I won't give you up without a fight."

Dead silence reigned as even nature seemed to stop making sound. A flicker of black came over and disappeared from Shin's eyes, but this time both Hinata and Neji noticed it. Their eyes went a big wider as Shin smiled darkly.

"I think you finally understand why this arrangement was made, Hinata. Your father knows about my family and it was for purely political reasons. However, that is something I don't want. Thus, I want to look at you as my dear fiancée, not as a complete stranger."

Hinata took a step back but couldn't find any words to say. This was something she knew would come one day but hadn't wanted to face. Now there wasn't much of a choice in the matter.

"You want a chance?" Hinata asked quietly. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing inappropriate," Shin assured her. "Just some time to be together. We really don't know each other."

"That's it?"

Shin nodded.

"Well, I guess that's okay."

"If you harm her, I'll kill you."

Hinata turned to Neji, her eyes wide with surprise. Shin cocked his head towards the young man but kept serious face.

"I have no doubt of that," he said. "However, the question is can you kill me."

"Don't doubt it."

"The Hyuga family members have the Byakugan, an ability that lets them see the inner system of chakra. This allows them to attack it, thus disabling their target's chakra and even killing them. It was the first thing I learned about the Hyuga family."

Neji and Hinata continued to stand there, one confident and the other slightly worried. Neither knew what Shin was leading up to.

"However, the Jyuuken is a close-combat fighting style. I don't suppose you know too much about my family's abilities."

"What are you saying?" Neji asked.

Shin took out a small knife and brandished it in the air. With a single motion, he sliced through the air and a crashing sound could be heard. From a nearby tree, Naruto and Kiba fell onto the ground.

"Ouch that hurt," Naruto muttered.

Seeing Naruto, Hinata quickly ran over and helped him up.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto replied cheerfully. "They always said I had a thick head. I guess it comes in handy sometimes."

"Next time you try to eavesdrop, do it on someone else," Shin said. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't exactly let anyone overhear information they're not supposed to."

"Damn," Kiba muttered. "How did he know about us in the first place?"

"This guy's pretty good," Naruto said with his own smile. "Should be interesting to see how good he is."

"Naruto! Don't!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Hinata?"

"Please, don't start fighting," Hinata pleaded. "Just let me sort it out myself."

A hint of determination infected Hinata's voice and stopped Naruto. Finally, he nodded and smiled at her.

"Do what you have to, Hinata-chan. But remember, all of your friends are here to help you. Even dog-boy over there."

Hinata returned the smile and it only grew wider. Shin looked over the group and made his own assessments. Out of the people here, Naruto and Neji were the most powerful. Only time would tell if he was strong enough.

+Hyuga Residence+

The light of dawn was peeking over the horizon when Hinata woke up. She put on a robe and walked about, still sleepy. However, as a shinobi, she had to be able to wake early and train. As she came out onto the sparring grounds, a surprise was waiting for her.

Six logs were stood up in a random configuration. Shin stood at the center with his knife drawn. With a flick of his wrist, the blade sliced through the air and a deep gash appeared in one of the logs. Two more slices and the entire thing was in pieces. Hinata couldn't figure out what Shin was doing and activated her Byakugan. As she looked on, she still couldn't see a thing. Though there was chakra focused on the knife's edge, it wasn't being projected outwards. And yet Shin was able to destroy the target.

Hinata remained standing on the deck as Shin continued his training. She had seen him do something similar yesterday when he exposed Naruto and Kiba from their hiding spot. The thought of Naruto knowing about her engagement made Hinata feel uneasy. How could she ever tell Naruto how she felt now? Everything seemed to be falling apart.

"Good morning, Hinata-hime."

The greeting roused Hinata and she looked up at Shin. The young man before her was standing still, staring back. A gentle smile appeared on his face and he walked over.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine," Hinata replied. "Umm, when did you get up?"

"An hour ago. I haven't had breakfast yet. Care to join me?"

"Uh, I guess."

Shin chuckled and walked over to Hinata. "Life is too short to be uncertain, Hinata-hime. Grasp it with both hands lest it slip away."

"Where did you learn that?"

"My family. Now, care to join me?"

It was slow at first, but Hinata soon gave him a strong nod. The two walked back inside and proceeded to the dining room. Hiashi was already up along with Hinata's sister, Hanabi. Several servants walked in and placed dishes on the low table. As Shin and Hinata sat down two more servants walked in with their food.

"Hmm. Smells good. What is it?"

"It's fish," Hinata said.

Shin nodded and picked up his chopsticks. He seemed to pick at his food a bit and everyone looked over. After getting a piece of the meat, Shin sampled it and smiled.

"Your cooks are certainly impressive, Hyuga-sama."

"You should say that to them, Shin."

"Perhaps I will." Shin took a sip of the tea and sighed softly. "Hyuga-sama, might I ask a favor?"

"Ask."

"May I take Hinata-hime with me for some training?"

Hinata looked at Shin in surprise and glanced at her father. She had said she would give Shin a chance and the young man was certainly taking it.

"Where to?"

"There's a river outside of the village," Shin answered. "It's peaceful and we shouldn't be disturbed."

Hiashi nodded. "Very well then."

"Thank you, Hyuga-sama."

The rest of the Hyuga family finished breakfast quickly but Shin continued to pick at his food. After half an hour, he finally finished eating and left a very clean plate behind. Though he was slow, he was thorough. About a half hour later, as Hinata was running through her morning exercises, Shin showed up again. This time, he was wearing the familiar flak jacket. The only difference was the two fishing poles and basket.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Hinata looked at him questioningly. "What are those for?"

"Training," he said. "What? You've never fished before?"

Hinata shook her head.

"Well, it's an enjoyable and relaxing sport. So c'mon."

"I'm not sure my father would consider it to be training."

"Haha. Well, to each his own. You coming?"

After a few more seconds of hesitation, Hinata nodded. "Umm, I can help carry some of that."

Shin regarded her for a few seconds himself before handing over the poles. Once outside the residence, he jumped onto a nearby roof and called out to her.

"Let's hurry," he said. "The day waits for no one."

The two raced off across the rooftops of the Hidden Leaf village. Shin stayed in the lead but he made sure Hinata kept up. They were out of the village in a few minutes and soon came to the river he had mentioned. Once they landed, Shin took in a deep breath.

"Nature is where we all came from, and from time to time it's nice to go back."

Shin sat down and opened the box. "Hand me one of the poles."

Once he had it in hand he pulled out something from the box.

"What is that?"

"Bait."

Once Shin had tied it on, he handed the rod back to Hinata. "Now try casting it."

"Umm, I'm not sure how."

"Just try. As they say, the first time is always the hardest."

"Did you learn that from your family as well?"

Shin chuckled. "Actually, my family isn't old enough to be the originator of that. Now, try."

Hinata looked at the pole and raised it. With a graceful arc she swung it backwards and then sent it flying forward. The string curved and slung itself, following her movements, before landing gently in the water. Slowly the bait sank below the surface.

"Now what?"

"You know you can sit down."

Hinata blushed a bit and sat down, though it wasn't too close to Shin. The young man fixed his bait onto the second pole and soon cast his line.

"You don't use live bait," Hinata commented.

"Oh, I don't like carrying around a box of bugs wherever I go. It's easier to use the fake stuff."

Hinata nodded. She found that she agreed with him. Though Shino had been on her team, Hinata would have felt awkward carrying around insects herself.

"Now let's do some training."

"Huh? How?"

Shin pointed at the water and Hinata followed with her gaze. "Though this water is clean, it still can be hard to see through it to find fish. Because you have the Byakugan, you can use it to see through and find things. See? It's training."

Hinata smiled. "You certainly have an interesting way, Shin-kun."

"Well, to each his own. Now try it and see if you can catch a fish."

With a nod Hinata closed her eyes and focused. As she opened them, the veins and arteries around her eyes began to swell as the Byakugan activated. She easily penetrated the water and could see the fish swimming about.

"What should I do?"

"Slowly move the bait towards the fish," Shin replied. "If you go too fast, they'll get scared away."

"O-okay."

Hinata watched her bait jitter in the water. With great care, she guided it slowly towards one of the nearby fish. It was a large one and within a few seconds took notice of the shining bait. The fish approached it and Hinata did her best to control her movements. At the last second, just as Hinata thought the fish would bite, another fish charged through and caused a large splash. Hinata's prey quickly turned tail and swam off.

Shin burst out laughing and shook his head. "Too bad. It looked like you would have gotten him. And it was a big one at that. It probably would have been enough for lunch."

"Umm, I'm sorry."

"What's there to apologize for? This is your first time and you're also training. There's no shame in messing up. You just have to learn from the experience. Well, that method obviously didn't work. Relax and let the fish come to you."

"Huh?"

Shin planted the end of his rod between two rocks and laid on his back. "Just relax a bit. Fishing takes patience and practicing that is also training."

Hinata smiled despite herself. Shin had a carefree spirit, though there was obviously a serious side as well. In fact, his carefree nature seemed like a toned down Naruto. Thinking of the blond-haired ninja made Hinata lose her smile as she too laid down. The only sound between the two of them was the rustling of the leaves. Finally Shin broke it.

"So who were those people you were with yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"Those three other shinobis you were with yesterday. One of them is related to you obviously, but I don't know who the others are."

"Oh. Neji-niisan is my cousin. He's a jounin and a member of the branch family. But we're close."

"A jounin? Hmm. I probably shouldn't have gotten him mad than."

"It's okay," Hinata quickly said. "Neji-niisan won't do anything rash."

"Well, from what he said, I wouldn't blame him if he did go after me. But we're digressing. Who was the guy with the dog?"

"That was Kiba, and the dog is Akamaru. Everyone in the Inuzuka clan has a dog partner."

"I see. Is he a good friend?"

Hinata nodded. "We were on the same Genin team in the past. He's a Chuunin and very strong too."

"I see. Your village certainly has some unique individuals."

"What about your home, Shin-kun?"

"We'll get there. There's one last person that I have to ask about."

Hinata bowed her head a bit and clutched her legs. "Uzumaki Naruto."

If Hinata was paying attention, she would have noticed Shin's eyes turning black for a second again.

"I see. Is he special to you?"

"Huh? What?" The look of bewilderment on Hinata's face said it all.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I won't hate him just because you like him."

"Oh. Well, see, umm…" Hinata drifted off and soon became silent.

Shin sighed and turned his head towards Hinata. "Hinata-hime, I know it's hard to say these things. But I must ask one thing of you. Please don't compare me to Naruto."

Hinata met Shin's gaze and saw the honesty behind them. Besides that, there was compassion and a hint of wisdom. Whoever Shin really was, Hinata was starting to believe that he was a good man.

Just as she was about reply, a tug pulled her attention to the pole in her hands.

"Ah!"

"Calm down," Shin immediately said. "Don't try to pull the fish out of the water like that. Give it some slack to fight, or else you'll snap the string."

"Okay!"

Hinata stopped pulling back and started letting the fish get some movement. Whatever it was, the fish was strong. It thrashed about in the water and kept trying to get free.

"Let the fish wear itself out," Shin said to her. "Use your Byakugan to watch it. React accordingly to where it tries to move."

Focusing, Hinata was soon seeing a large fish under the water. It was swimming about, turning around in the water and racing in circles almost trying to get free. Hinata felt slightly sorry for the fish but she kept her grip steady. After what seemed like an eternity she felt the pull weaken and with a heave, pulled it out of the water. Droplets sprinkled after the fish and it landed on the grass, thrashing from the lack of breathable oxygen. Shin let out a low whistle as he walked over to the fish.

"Nice catch, Hinata-hime."

Hinata blushed at the compliment and watched as Shin grabbed the fish. He somehow kept a grip on the slimy scales and opened the fish's mouth. After a few seconds, Shin removed the hook and to Hinata's surprise threw her catch back into the river.

"We'll give that guy another chance," he said. "If we catch him again, well, he'll be lunch."

"But how would we know if we catch him again?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, I'll know." Shin chuckled and wiped his hands on a towel. "As to why I let him go, well, this is training. We're not here to actually catch food, though I'm sure some people would have been delighted to have him for lunch."

"I see."

Shin laid down again and gazed at the sky. "Now where were we? Ah, your friends. Surely you must have more than that."

"Oh, well, there's Shino of the Aburame clan. We were in the same class and also on the same Genin team. He can be rather serious and very smart. And, umm, Choji of the Akimichi clan. He likes to eat a lot," Hinata added with a little laugh.

"Hmm. Interesting." After a few seconds of silence Shin looked over at her. "Please continue."

"There's also Ino, of the Yamanaka clan. She was on Choji's team. Ino has a lot of spirit. Oh! And Shikamaru of the Nara clan. Shikamaru is really smart, though he doesn't like to be bothered. He likes to play Shougi. We were called the rookie nine."

"Interesting. I'll have to challenge him to a game. It's been a long time since I've played anyone good. Anyone else?"

"Oh. Well, Rock Lee was Neji-niisan's teammate, and he's a taijutsu specialist. He's done some incredible things. Tenten was their third teammate and she specializes in throwing weapons."

"So long range combat?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes. According to Neji-niisan, she rarely ever misses."

"Is that so? Your village certainly has some interesting individuals. By the way, you said the Rookie Nine. But you just named more people."

With a smile Hinata agreed silently. "Neji-niisan, TenTen, and Rock Lee aren't part of the nine. The last member is Haruno Sakura-chan. She's training under Hokage-sama to become a medical ninja. Sakura-chan's control over her chakra is perfect."

For a second Hinata fell silent and Shin glanced over again. "Something wrong?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, nothing."

Though he didn't believe it, Shin didn't press on. There were always other ways to figure things out. It either had to do with this Sakura or perhaps there was someone else she didn't want to mention. Considering this made the count eight, it was probably this ninth person she was hesitant about.

"Hey, Hinata-hime."

"Huh?"

"Do you consider your friends important?"

"Of course!"

Shin raised an eyebrow at the forcefulness of her statement but Hinata only gave him a determined look. He smiled and nodded.

"That's good to know."

"What about you, Shin-kun? You must have some friends that are close to you."

Shin shrugged. "Not really. Members of my family aren't allowed contact with the outside world until we gain control over our bloodline limit."

"Huh? Why?"

"You could say it's our curse," Shin replied. "Though we are bestowed great power, it is something that is difficult to control. We can accidentally kill someone in our childhood, when we really have no way of controlling it."

"That's sad."

"Hmm?"

"That you didn't get to have friends. My friends are the ones that helped me improve."

"Oh, I guess you can call my siblings my friends. My brothers and sisters were my main companions. We trained together, played together, and learned together."

"How many siblings did you have?"

"Twelve."

Hinata's eyes went wide. "Wow."

"My mother was an amazing person. She raised all of us and was our guiding light."

Suddenly Shin stood up and pulled his line out of the water. Hinata quickly followed his example.

"Well, are you warmed up?"

"Huh?"

"You've already used your Byakugan. That was just the warm-up. Shall we do some real training now?"

"Umm, okay."

Shin smiled. "Don't worry about hurting me, Hinata-hime. So don't hold back."

The wind swept across the grass as the two stood before each other. Shin remained in his current posture while Hinata relaxed into the Jyuuken stance. After one last look passed between their eyes, Shin nodded.

"Begin!"

End of Prologue

We'll see how this goes. And if people come after me for it.

Z98


	2. Chapter 1

I'm getting some positive feedback about the story. And don't worry. A priority of mine is to make sure Shin isn't perfect. And you'll see some of his flaws later on. Also, do not make any assumptions. The readers of my EVA fic know this full well and they've learned never to assume anything about what I write. In regards to Shin, he is here to stay. This story centers around Shin, Hinata, and Naruto in that order. I started this fic because of Shin and in the end you will either love him or hate him. I can't choose for you, but the importance that he plays is immense. As far as original characters go, he's the first I've done in a long time and I don't intend to kill him off.

War of Love

Chapter 1: Tortoise or Hare?

Shin focused his eyes and looked on as Hinata charged him. Because the Hyuga family excelled in close-combat conditions, he couldn't let her get close enough to actually use the Jyuken. With a leap, Shin dodged the first blow but Hinata was just as fast. Two swings nearly clipped him and with her using Jyuken, even a grazing blow could cause damage. The only tactic was to avoid the blows at all costs. Shin bowed aside and bent backwards as Hinata threw another punch at him. It flew right over his chest and Shin grabbed the ground with his hand, performing a back flip in the process.

As Hinata came in for another strike, the young man drew his knife and sliced the air. Without warning, Hinata tripped and Shin moved in for the kill. However, such a simple trick wouldn't be enough. Hinata twisted around to land on her back and kicked upwards, nearly catching Shin on the head. She pushed off the ground with her hands and soared through the air before landing on a tree branch. Shin breathed hard and grinned at his fiancée.

"Very impressive, Hinata-hime. You are quite skilled at the Jyuken."

"You as well," Hinata replied with a smile of her own. "But how did you trip me?"

"Well, that's my little secret," Shin replied. "Let's keep going."

Shin leapt into the air and came spiraling down towards Hinata. The young woman slid aside and kicked towards him as Shin landed. Moving aside, Shin grabbed Hinata's leg in the process but received a kick from the other leg. It sent him flying but he landed on his feet. Hinata continued attacking and Shin kept retreating. He led her around the area before jumping above and getting out of her range once again. This time, when Hinata charged, he remained standing. Hinata was about to land a blow on him when she completely ignored Shin and leapt towards another higher branch. Shin disappeared in a puff of smoke, to be replaced by a block of wood. The real Shin jumped out of his hiding spot and quickly started running again. There was no way Hinata's Byakugan would fall for such a simple trick, apparently. Shin suddenly turned around and kicked at Hinata. The young woman deflected the blow before finally landing one of her own.

With the force of the punch sending him flying downwards, Shin spun around to balance himself before planting his feet into a tree. He slid for a bit before coming to a stop and standing on the trunk. There wasn't any time to rest as Hinata soon followed up on her attack. With no other option, Shin activated his bloodline limit. One moment, his eyes were glossy white. The next, they flashed and turned pitch black. Shin blinked once and clapped his hand together. Without warning, Hinata felt her legs weaken and nearly tripped. She rolled for a bit before sliding back onto her feet. By then Shin had run away again and was standing behind several trees. He continued shifting about, looking all around him. Hinata pressed on, having no trouble finding Shin. She closed the distance quickly but again Shin clapped his hands together. This time her arms started aching, but she quickly suppressed it. The young man started rubbing his hands together and the aching increased. Soon the burning became unbearable and Hinata was tempted to fall back. But she wasn't about to let Shin get the better of her that easily. One of the things Naruto had taught her was to keep on going no matter what.

Seeing that Hinata wasn't going to be deterred, Shin grimaced and squeezed his hands tighter. At the last moment, Shin pulled his hands towards them and Hinata felt a strong tug grab her. She came flying towards Shin but again reacted quickly. With a single punch Hinata knocked Shin down and his eyes returned its glossy state. Shin landed on his feet and slid back, but he didn't bother attacking or moving again.

"Very impressive, Hinata-hime," Shin said. "I don't think I'll be able to take much more of that."

Hinata panted but smiled. "You weren't bad either, Shin-kun. But how did you do that?"

"Well, that I can't tell you just yet." Shin rubbed the spot where Hinata punched him and sighed. "I think I'll need a bit of time to let my body recover. Should we go back to the river?"

"Uh, okay."

The two shinobi walked slowly back towards their little spot. As they stepped through the undergrowth Shin started humming. Though he had lost the sparring match, Shin wasn't down or anything. Unlike Naruto, who would have been disappointed. Shin reminded Hinata more of Shikamaru than anyone else so far. Laid back but not as lazy as the Shadow ninja.

"So what's on your mind?" Shin suddenly asked.

"Uh, what?"

Shin grinned. "You keep sneaking looks towards me. Something has to be on your mind."

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. It's the first time a girl outside of my family has paid that much attention to me, and I kind of like it."

Hinata blushed and looked away a bit. Shin really was a flirt, despite his claims of not having much experience with women.

"So what's on your mind?" Shin repeated. "All things considered, I can be a good listener."

Hinata shook her head. "It's nothing. I was just thinking."

Though he could have pressed on Shin shrugged and let it go, to Hinata's immense relief.

"I wonder what life in Konoha is like," Shin said.

"Umm, you're here, aren't you?"

Shin smiled. "I've only been here for a day and I've spent most of it at your house. Though I walked around yesterday, I can't say I got to know the people or their lives."

"I see."

"Hinata-hime, mind showing me around a bit?"

"Huh? Oh, of course not!"

"Haha. No need to be so tense, Hinata-hime. I would hope I'm not a stranger anymore."

"Oh, it's just, well…"

Hinata trailed on but Shin got the message. He still was a stranger here and it would be some time before that changed.

"It's okay if you're tired," Shin said quietly. "You don't have to spend the entire day with me."

"Umm, it's not that I don't like being with you," Hinata replied, just as softly, "but well, I'm supposed to go train with my friends later."

"Then go. I'll see you this evening for dinner."

Shin walked back to the spot with the poles and cast his line again. With one last look, Hinata started running back towards the village. Though she felt bad for leaving Shin, there was also a part of her that was relieved at going to see her friends. When she returned to Konoha, it was almost lunch time. It would be easy to find Naruto right now. Hinata walked over to Ichiraku and saw him sitting at his usual spot, already on his third bowl.

"Umm, Naruto-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, hi Hinata-chan! What brings you here?"

"I just got back from a little training," Hinata replied. "You?"

"Oh, well I always eat lunch here," Naruto said between mouthfuls. "Ichiraku has the best ramen in town. So, were you with that Shin guy?"

Reluctantly, Hinata nodded and sat down next to Naruto. She laid her head down and sighed.

"Well, if that guy bothers you, just tell me," Naruto said cheerfully. "I'll take care of him."

Hinata smiled weakly. "Thanks, Naruto-kun. But everything is all right. I can take care of this myself."

"All right. But remember, you have friends for a reason. So, how about a meal on me?"

Her smile brightened and Hinata nodded. Naruto rarely treated anyone to ramen but from time to time he did this for his close friends. And spending time with him was certainly a plus.

"So you left Shin?"

The two turned around and saw Neji standing there.

"A wise decision, Hinata-sama."

Hinata frowned. "You don't have to treat me like a little girl, Neji-niisan. What are you doing here anyways?"

"The Hokage has ordered that all members of the Hyuuga family report to her. Apparently something is up."

"Hmm? What does that old lady want with all of you?" Naruto blurted out.

"It's none of your concern," Neji replied. "Apparently it's a family matter."

Hinata's frown deepened and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I have to go to this. I'll eat ramen with you another time."

Naruto replied with his usual grin. "I'll be waiting for you, Hinata-chan."

When the two left Naruto turned back to his ramen, thinking a bit about what had happened.

Forest+

Shin didn't move much as he continued fishing. It was probably a good thing Hinata had left as the young man clutched the knife. It was quite sad how quickly they had caught up. The blade extended and Shin swiped the air. The clinking of metal could be heard as the knives fell apart.

"That was a clumsy attack," Shin stated, not even looking. "I would expect you to give me more credit than that."

A low rumble of a laugh answered. "If you had died from that, would you really have been worth the effort?"

"I guess not. But I thought you learned to respect my family the last time you idiots fought with us."

"Oh? And you're telling me you can also control your bloodline limit?"

Sticking the rod into the ground, Shin stood and turned to face his opponent. The man cast aside his straw hat and leveled his sword.

"Well if that's the case, I better finish you off quickly."

In an instant the taller man charged forward. Shin quickly moved out of the way and threw a line of kunai at his target. He wasn't expecting any of them to hit but those weren't his target. As he looked on, Shin saw the lines and smiled. A small amount of chakra had been imbedded onto those weapons and they grazed the lines. The sudden tension in his muscles caused his opponent to slow slightly but he quickly compensated. This guy was obviously no pushover. With his eyes now completely black, Shin jumped away again. He couldn't let this guy get close to him.

As Shin jumped around, his opponent seemed to begin getting annoyed. He disappeared and suddenly jumped out from some branches. Shin ignored the attack and instead turned around and unleashed another volley of kunai. His enemy jumped out from hiding and the water clone disappeared.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected that to work," he said with a grin. "Now, shall we get serious?"

Shin didn't bother waiting and ran off again. Fighting someone of that rank and ability was suicide, even with his bloodline limit. He had to get back to the village and warn the people. However, his opponent wasn't going to make that easy. Several more kunai sailed through the air and Shin dodged them. His opponent was closing in fast and Shin quickly moved to block his movements. Three swipes through the air and branches were severed and flung about, blocking his path. That barely fazed the enemy as he smashed them aside effortlessly.

A near miss sent Shin's sense tingling and he sidestepped to avoid another swing. Shin then turned tail and ran again. He was almost in sight of the village when finally his opponent landed in front of him and landed a punch. The blow sent Shin flying back and he handed hard on his back. Blood seeped from his mouth and he wiped it away. Now was not the time to show weakness.

"Haha. You certainly managed to get far, but you're nothing like the rest of your family. No wonder they sent such a weakling to Leaf."

Shin glared. "You know nothing."

"Oh? It seems I've struck a nerve." The man lowered his sword and the wrappings came off. "Here, let my Samehada make everything better."

With a slow grace, Shin assumed a combat stance and stood there. With his knife still in hand, the dark eyes only stared forward at his opponent.

"Come and try," he uttered.

Kisame bared his teeth in a cruel smile and launched himself. At the last second before his sword touched Shin the young man twirled his hand and created a whirl of dust. Three swipes followed quickly and blood spouted from Kisame's sword arm. The shinobi paused for a second and looked around. Shin had disappeared from his spot and was nowhere to be seen.

Examining his wounds, Kisame grunted. "That little twerp actually managed to hurt me. Well, he certainly shows promise. Next time I'll just have to kill him."

With that the rogue shinobi disappeared back into the shadows of the forest. It was obvious that his opponent had retreated to Leaf and alerted the ninjas there. Soon ANBU squadrons would be everywhere, but they would find nothing.

Shin gripped his side as he leapt to Leaf's front gates. He jumped over the wall with three leaps and landed on the ledges. Several guards saw him and immediately rushed over. A few moments later, his energy exhausted, Shin blacked out.

Hospital+

Hinata looked down at her fiancé with a worried look. The doctors had determined that Shin was bleeding internally and one of the medic-nins had healed the wound. Whoever Shin had fought was obviously strong and search teams had already been dispatched. They found several kunai fragments as well as a few intact ones. Besides the path of the battle, there was precious little evidence as to who had attacked Shin.

"Perhaps he isn't as strong as he thought," Neji commented.

"That's not very nice, Neji-niisan," Hinata replied.

Neji shrugged and was about to leave when Shin awoke. He made no noise but simply opened his eyes, which had returned to a grayish color.

"I guess I made it," he muttered.

"Shin-kun, stay still," Hinata quickly said. "You suffered a serious injury and will need time to recover."

"Hmph. Was it internal bleeding?"

Hinata was surprised by his guess and only nodded.

"Then I inflicted that upon myself. I guess I still can't control my powers very well."

Neji and Hinata looked at each other puzzlingly.

"Umm, what do you mean?" Hinata finally asked.

Shin rose out of the bed and looked at his bandages. With a single move he tore all of them off, surprising Neji and Hinata again. The third surprise came as there was not a mark on him.

"If used improperly, my bloodline limit can kill me and everyone around me. I'm fortunate that I didn't do more damage to my own body in that fight."

"So who did you fight?" Neji asked.

Shin grinned and regarded the two. "Hoshigaki Kisame of the Akatsuki."

It seemed that Shin had dropped too many surprises on the group as Hinata looked ready to faint. Neji only looked at him in surprise.

"You fought Hoshigaki Kisame of the Akatsuki and are still alive?"

"Oh give me some credit," Shin replied. "My bloodline limit does give me an edge but I doubt I could have lasted much longer. I survived, but I certainly didn't win."

"The Hokage has to know about this right away!" Hinata suddenly interrupted.

Neji nodded. "I'll go report to her. This is certainly an issue for consideration."

When he had disappeared, Hinata looked over at Shin again. His bare chest showed no signs of the operation that had been performed to save his life. It was as if nothing had happened and yet he had just survived an encounter with a member of the Akatsuki. So why was he just a chuunin? Even jounins had trouble confronting those renegades.

"Something wrong?" Shin asked, noticing his fiancée's look.

"Shin, what is your bloodline limit?"

Upon hearing the question Shin looked away. Hinata frowned but remained silent. If Shin wasn't ready to share that with her yet, she'd let it go. Besides, he probably had his reasons. It apparently nearly killed him. Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled kindly.

"When you're ready to tell me, you can tell me. But is keeping secrets really the right thing to do?"

"Aren't you keeping a secret too?"

"Huh?"

Shin raised his hand and pressed it against Hinata's heart. "This wants something, and yet you do your best to suppress it. You keep it a secret. Aren't you being a hypocrite?"

Hinata's face reddened and she looked away, moving the place where Shin's hand touched. This time both of them became red and Shin retracted his arm as if it were touching something poisonous.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"It's, uh, it's okay," Hinata stuttered out.

She turned away and tried to regain her composure. That was extremely embarrassing and Hinata wasn't sure if she could face Shin without her face turning into a tomato. The two let the silence remain as Hinata sat down again. But her thoughts slowly drifted to what Shin had said before the accidental 'touch,' which was also partially her fault.

It was true that Hinata felt something for Naruto, and she was surprised that Shin had picked up on that so quickly. But right now she just couldn't figure out a way to approach her comrade. Naruto and several others were preparing for an operation against Sound, which might save Sasuke and Hinata desperately wanted to join them. But with Shin here that would probably be impossible now.

"Hinata-hime, I think I'll check out now," Shin suddenly said.

He stood and stretched a bit. Hinata frowned and stood as well.

"You should rest some more," Hinata stated. "Even if you can heal quickly, your body took a lot of damage. It would be foolish to put more stress on it."

"I'll be fine," Shin assured her. "Besides, this just shows that I need more training. My brothers or sisters could have easily defeated a single member of the Akatsuki. I on the other hand nearly died. I have a long way to go."

Hinata looked at Shin's form. He was holding almost perfectly still though his muscles were tense. They relaxed a bit and Shin looked over at her with a smile.

"There's no need to worry about me, Hinata-hime. I'm a lot tougher than I look. Besides, it's hardly your job to look after me."

An odd choice of words, as Shin was supposed to be Hinata's fiancé. The young woman shook her head and sighed. Right now she didn't know what to make of Shin. He was certainly a strong shinobi as well as a fine young man. But her heart had already settled on someone else.

"Umm, any chance I can get a change of clothes?" Shin suddenly asked.

"Oh! I'll go arrange something."

With that Hinata disappeared from the room with Shin looking after her. A slight grin appeared on his face as he raised his hand before him. For a few seconds a small amount of chakra swirled in his hands. It disappeared moments later but the smile remained.

Office of the Hokage+

"I see." Tsunade clasped her hands together as she considered the implications. "Did Sentoki Shin say anything else about his encounter?"

"Not as when I left," Neji replied.

"Very well then. Dismissed."

Neji bowed and walked out of the room. Once the door closed Tsunade turned to her guest.

"Well Jiraiya. Do you think the organization is after Naruto again?"

"No doubt about it. They made an attempt on Sabaku no Gaara not too long ago and now one of them shows up close to Leaf? That can hardly be a coincidence."

Tsunade sighed. "I might have to push off the rescue mission because of this."

"That's not going to make Sakura or Naruto very happy."

A fist slammed down on the table. "I know that, damn it. But what choice do I have?"

"Well, you could trust them to carry through."

Tsunade looked over at her old comrade curiously. "I know you had a sense of humor, Jiraiya, but this is no laughing matter."

"I'm serious. Naruto and Sakura can take care of themselves. And with the team that is being assembled they'll be able to confront any challenge that comes their way."

The team was a group of jounins and chuunins from both Sand and Leaf. Because of the damage that Sound had inflicted upon both, there was a mutual agreement that the threat had to be neutralized. And with the possibility of Orochimaru possessing Sasuke's body, it made the situation all the more urgent.

"I still feel uneasy about this. I'm not in the business of making martyrs."

Jiraiya sighed. "Though we try to prevent the death of our comrades, sometimes there is nothing that can be done. If we try to save everyone, we might lose everyone in the process."

"I know that. There's no need to lecture me on something like that. All right, we'll try it your way. The mission will go forward, but they better be careful."

"Better to be slow and steady like Sakura than charging off like Naruto, eh?"

Tsunade nodded and stood from her desk. "An interesting way to say it, but yes. I better begin preparations for the expedition. I wish I could go with them."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement as Tsunade made her way to the door. Just as it closed, he noticed the large stack of papers on her desk. He sighed and shook his head this time. Just like the Legendary Sucker to walk out on paperwork. Sometimes Jiraiya wondered how his old teammate managed to stay Hokage.

Forest+

The sound of birds echoed distantly, the only thing that disturbed the calm. Leaves drifted in the wind be they clinging to their branches or flying through the air. Just mere meters away from this view an area of devastation stood alongside.

Hinata watched nervously as Shin walked around. Broken branches littered the site of his battle but the young man didn't seem bothered by the destruction present. He stretched a bit and looked around.

"See all those branches? Well, I kind of caused all that. My power is still unstable and I couldn't control what happened."

"It must be very strong then," Hinata stated, "to do all this by yourself."

"Well, I had some help. But it's frustrating not being able to target specific things."

"What do you mean?"

Shin chuckled. "I'd show you, but as I said, I can't target specific things. You might get hit too."

"I see."

The two stood there for a bit longer before Shin turned to face her.

"Are things moving too quickly?" he suddenly asked.

"Huh? What?" The question caught Hinata off guard and she blushed once more.

"I've only been here for two days and quite a few things seem to have happened already. That and I know for a fact that your dad is the one making you spend so much time with me."

Hinata wasn't too surprised that Shin knew about her father's instructions. He had surprised her often enough that she didn't underestimate his intelligence or his abilities.

"You don't have to spend all your time with me. Even if your father ordered you to, I can just as easily release you from following me around."

"It's okay," Hinata replied. "Besides, you just got out of the hospital."

Shin flexed his arm and shrugged. "I've been through worse. Well, if you're sure."

With that he sat down and leaned against a tree. Hinata followed his example but kept her eyes on him. Shin seemed too relaxed, especially after he had fought a member of the Akatsuki.

"Say, Hinata-hime, what's your family like?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, both our families possess bloodline limits, so there are some differences in how everything works within the family. But I've never lived with anyone else before in my life. I'm just curious as to how things work in your house."

"I see. Well, do you know about the main and branch houses?"

Shin nodded. "I was told a little about that before leaving. There's a good deal of tension between the two, isn't there?"

"Yes. It's kind of sad, really. But things got better when Neji made peace with my father."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Hinata hesitated. Should she really tell Shin more about her family and her friends? Even if he was a guest, he was still a shinobi from a different village. Before she could make up her mind, Shin seemed to sense her thoughts and waved his hand.

"Never mind. That's not important at the moment. Do you mind telling me about your father and sister?"

"My father is the head of the family and thus he has a lot of responsibilities. He tries to look out for the best interest of the family."

"Understandable."

Hinata looked over at Shin, wondering how he fit into her father's plan for the Hyuuga clan.

"He can be very stern at times," she continued, "but Father does his best."

"And your sister."

For a second Hinata wasn't sure what to say. "My sister is, well, she's actually stronger than me."

"Oh I doubt that."

Shin's declaration shocked Hinata and she stared intently at the young man. He was just staring blankly into the air and it was almost as if he wasn't paying attention. Why else would he say that? His next few words quickly answered her unspoken question.

"I believer her name is Hanabi, correct? Well, she may be strong, but your potential is far greater."

"How can you tell?"

As Shin looked over at her Hinata noticed his eyes turn black for an instant. That seemed to be a sign of his blood limit, but what was it really? Hinata straightened a bit against the trunk and sighed. She didn't know what was going on, but things weren't the way she had hoped they would be.

"Believe in yourself, Hinata-hime. Or else how will you ever get what you really want?"

"What I want?"

"There's no point in hiding it. I don't hold it against Naruto for capturing your heart. What would you say if I was willing to help you?"

By now Hinata had given up on being surprised by Shin's statements. Now her mind started working. Shin had motives that she couldn't possibly know. Even with the Byakugan, her abilities couldn't penetrate the shell Shin had around him. The two simply sat there, each against their own tree. Shin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"There's a lot that I can see, Hinata-hime. And sometimes it tires me. I'd like to help in something beautiful for once instead of causing destruction like this."

"I see."

Shin smiled sheepishly at Hinata. "Now isn't that selfish?"

For several seconds Hinata looked over at the sight before her. Whatever Shin was hiding, he apparently had a good reason. There was more than just a simple shinobi in Shin's heart. But then again, she didn't know what was in his heart. At the moment his eyes were closed and there was no sign that a deadly warrior sat close to her. But wait, was he really asleep?

"Shin?"

Hinata moved over and tapped his shoulder. There was no response. Perhaps Shin wasn't as fast a healer as he claimed to be. Smiling, Hinata sat next to him and took his hand.

"One step at a time, Shin," she whispered, "but I will give you a chance. You deserve that much."

End of Chapter 1

Hopefully my later chapters will be a lot longer. And as to why it took so long to get out? Was tired, school, multiple other projects, and the fact that I apparently broke an old rule on that I wasn't even aware of and got banned from updating for a bit. But then again, it is my responsibility to check up on updated rules so whatever.

Z98


	3. Chapter 2

War of Love

Chapter 2: Alliance

On the trunk of a tree, lines and curves were carved in. Each movement was smooth and continuous and soon the leaf emblem was completed. The person responsible, however, was standing several feet away. Shin lowered his arms and his eyes turned a milky gray once more. Hinata clapped and walked over.

"That was impressive, Shin-kun."

"Well, I've been practicing," Shin replied. "I'm getting better at control these days."

That was certainly true. For two weeks after his fight with Kisame, Shin had been constantly training with his bloodline limit. Though Hinata still didn't know what exactly it was, it seemed as if Shin could affect things by using his chakra. It was entirely possible that his eyes saw things no one else did.

"Maybe I should keep marking these trees," Shin joked. "That's supposed to be Akamaru's job anyways."

Hinata giggled and shook her head. "That's not very nice, Shin-kun."

"Well, he isn't here, so does it really matter?"

With the time Hinata had spent with Shin these past two weeks, she was finally beginning to see the shape of his personality. As Shin stretched and put away his knife, he did so in a slow fashion. At times Hinata wondered if there wasn't something wrong with his eyes.

"Shall we begin our training now?" Shin asked.

Hinata nodded and got up. The little wood-carving had been a warm-up for Shin. Now he would begin fighting, but not since their first sparring match had he used his bloodline limit on her. At times like this, Hinata was glad. She knew fully well that Shin's powers let him kill from a distance. With his inability to completely control his powers, he might accidentally injure her. Shin was far too careful to let something like that happen so he avoided the risk for now.

Both shinobis assumed stances and began immediately. This time, instead of running away, Shin met Hinata's attacks head on. Though his speed was nowhere close to Hinata's, the young man proved himself capable of dodging her attacks. He made it a point to stay close to her while avoiding any strikes. Several thrusts came at him but Shin went under and aimed a kick at her legs. Hinata stepped over the move and brought her elbow down on Shin's back. The move might have knocked him out if it connected but Shin twisted around and caught it with both hands. Using the leverage, the young man lifted himself and aimed another kick at Hinata's head. His opponent wouldn't let him strike so easily though and Hinata spun around, shaking Shin off. Though he landed on his feet, it was less than soft and Shin took two steps to regain his balance. In that time Hinata came charging at him.

A stroke of the hand managed to touch Shin but he quickly kicked the ground and slid backwards. Though his shoulder ached, Hinata had only managed to partially seal that point. It wouldn't really affect him in this fight. This time Shin took the initiative and launched a fury of attacks. But by now Hinata was warmed up and her movements were getting faster and faster. Shin continued fighting but was now forced to fall back. Instead of avoiding her blows Shin began actively blocking them. However, always at the last moment, he shifted the angle to avoid being hit in any of the chakra spots. Taking a chance, Shin didn't block the next blow and instead launched his own strike. It connected just before Hinata would have knocked him out and pushed her back.

Shin then went low and struck his open palm against Hinata's chest. This threw her back even more and he jumped into the air to finish the strike. However, before he could land a blow, Hinata spun in mid-air and threw chakra all around her. The Kaiten threw Shin back and he crashed into a tree. Shin stood but didn't bother continuing the fight. His Taijutsu was still not powerful enough to defeat Hinata head on.

"Impressive as always, Hinata-hime."

"You've gotten better too," Hinata replied. "Maybe next time you'll win."

Shin chuckled. "That day will be long in coming, Hinata-hime."

The two sat down again and Hinata opened the lunchbox she had brought along. She handed Shin a sandwich and picked one out for herself.

"You seem distracted of late," Shin said as he moved next to her. "Is something bothering you?"

Hinata stared at her sandwich for a bit before taking a small bit. It was true that something was disturbing her, but she wasn't sure if it was right to tell Shin. Finally she decided to share a little bit.

"Naruto and the others are going on a mission soon. And I can't go with them."

The sound of munching stopped for a few seconds before resuming.

"Let me guess. It's because I'm here."

Hinata reluctantly nodded.

"Right. Probably your father's doing again. So you're worried about Naruto."

The second nod was even more reluctant.

"Well, I've seen him train a few times. I wouldn't worry too much about that young man. Unless there's something about this mission that sets it apart."

Shin let one eye regard Hinata and began processing her reactions. There was something she wasn't telling him and it had to be dire indeed. After eating a bit more Shin finished his sandwich and reached for another. If nothing else, the Hyuuga family employed superb cooks. Throughout the meal Shin used the silence to consider the present situation. Since Hinata still apparently didn't trust him, he had to earn that trust. But a few minutes later he was proved wrong.

"I was supposed to go with them for this."

There had to be much more than just that. Even if he didn't care too much for Naruto, Shin knew not to underestimate someone like him. The mission had to A-rank, otherwise Hinata wouldn't be so worried. Also, why else would a member of the Hyuuga clan be going along anyways? He'd have to check it out later.

"Don't worry so much. Have some confidence in that kid."

Hinata smiled back at Shin. "I do, but, well…"

The trailing off was another signal to Shin. Perhaps it really was something important. Making up his mind, Shin stood up.

"Why don't you spend some time with Naruto?" he suggested. "Don't worry, I won't mind. You seem to need some assurance and he's the only one that can give it."

Hinata looked at Shin in surprised and remained speechless.

"I'll take the basket back to the house," Shin continued. "You have to reach for the things you want, Hinata-hime."

Before she could say anything else Shin had disappeared into the trees. Even with spending so much time with him these past two weeks, Hinata still couldn't discern his motives. But she was glad that Shin apparently was willing to help. For now Hinata was willing to accept his assistance.

Since Shin had taken care of the basket, Hinata was free to go search for Naruto. She returned to Konoha and quickly checked the usual places. Naruto was nowhere to be found. Feeling a bit uneasy, Hinata continued her search and ran about the town. Still he was no where to be seen. Had Naruto and the others already left?

"Hey, Hinata!"

Turning around, Hinata brightened at the sight of Kiba and Shino.

"Kiba-kun! Shino-kun! Have you two seen Naruto-kun?"

"Eh? He's preparing for the mission. In fact, we were just about to go see him. Want to come?"

Hinata nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Kiba-kun."

The young man smiled back and scratched his head as Akamaru ran up to Hinata. She patted him and the rather large dog licked her hand.

"Hehe. You're excited about the mission too, aren't you, Akamaru?"

"A pity you will not be joining us," Shino said as they started walking.

Hinata nodded.

"Yeah, and I heard it's all because of that guy," Kiba began. "What right does he have to keep you from going?"

"It really isn't Shin-kun's fault," Hinata replied. "He actually is pretty nice."

"He is a shinobi from a different village," Shino stated. "Even if Hidden Waterfall is preparing to sign a treaty with us, we can't be too careful."

Hinata didn't bother saying anything else. No one outside of the Hyuuga family knew of the arrangement and no one could know until it was finalized. The three arrived at a rather large house and entered. Inside several other shinobis were laying out equipment and preparing backpacks. Neji, TenTen, and Rock Lee were among the ninjas present while Naruto and Sakura were working on the other side of the room.

"It won't be the same without you," Kiba muttered. "It would be nice if all the Rookie Nine were reunited."

With a sad nod Hinata agreed. And even if she did go along, there was no guarantee the reunion would go well.

"So who are the ones accompanying us from Sand?" Kiba asked.

"Temari and Kankuro. They're also bringing several chuunins. Our militaries aren't sparing any expenses with this operation."

Hinata nodded. "This is important. I wish I could be there to help you guys."

"Who knows," Kiba said with a smile. "Maybe things will work themselves out."

Hinata sighed. "I don't think there are real miracles here, Kiba-kun. But I will wish for one."

Office of the Hokage+

Shin waited for several minutes before he was admitted. The office of the Hokage was a mess and he wondered how her assistants managed to do anything. It was a wonder the Hokage herself could find anything that she might need.

"Sentoki Shin," Tsunade began. "I read the message that you brought and I'm intrigued."

Shin shrugged. "It's my father's message, Hokage-sama. Not mine."

"Do you wish to see the contents?"

"Does it affect me in any way?"

Tsunade grinned. "I'd say so."

A flick of the wrist and the sheet of paper flew towards Shin. He caught it and skimmed over it.

"Interesting. This explains why Hinata-hime was so agitated."

"I'd say so. How did the Hidden Waterfall find out about the mission?"

"Even if I knew, I could not tell you."

Tsunade shrugged. "True enough. But if your father knew about this mission, why would he request a representative of Hidden Waterfall accompany it knowing that you were the only one eligible since you're here?"

"I don't know. Perhaps he is trying to test me."

"Test you? This mission is of utmost importance to our village. It is not a place or time for your family to 'test' you."

"It's likely my father also wants to see Orochimaru dead," Shin stated. "Hidden Leaf isn't the only place that's had trouble with him."

"Oh? Why would Orochimaru be interested in Hidden Waterfall?"

Shin shrugged. "If you want to know more, I'm sure my father will supply the details. But I'm afraid I cannot say any more."

Tsunade sighed. "Very well then. I'll accept the fact that you have a responsibility to your village and your clan, but I can't allow an unknown to endanger this mission."

"Endanger the mission?"

"You are an unknown," Tsunade said, pointing at Shin. "I do not know your motives nor do what you'll do if I let you go. Therefore I cannot take the risk."

"But if I don't know, you're down one member of the team."

Tsunade hesitated and regarded Shin. Had Hinata said something? Shin smiled in response.

"Hinata-hime said she was supposed to go with Naruto on a mission. She sounded rather worried so I assumed it had to be dangerous. Since my father mentioned a specific mission in that message, I assumed that that was the only one of sufficient danger that even Hinata-hime would be worried. So I guessed."

"Very good, Sentoki," Tsunade said. "I find it hard to believe that you're still just a chuunin."

"There are reasons for that," Shin muttered, though Tsunade barely caught it.

"So what would you have me do?" Tsunade asked, ignoring Shin's statement.

"Let me act as the representative of Hidden Waterfall, and prove what kind of ally we can be."

After a few seconds of looking Shin over, Tsunade focused on his eyes. They were still the milky grayish color but a slight gleam penetrated all that. Shin wasn't just some random name given to him. The young man really did have a heart.

"I suppose you'll want Hyuuga Hinata to go with you, despite the fact that she'll be in danger."

"A shinobi must accept danger as a part of everyday life. It would be dishonorable to try to shield her from it. Nor would she want that."

Tsunade chuckled and nodded. "You're a very interesting person, Sentoki. I look forward to seeing how you integrate yourself into Hidden Leaf. Now get going. The ones taking part in the mission will leave tomorrow with or without you."

With a bow Shin walked out of the room. As Tsunade watched, she noticed a heaviness in his steps. Shin certainly wasn't like Naruto, who liked to charge into things head-on. Perhaps he would be an asset to the mission after all.

Gathering+

"Umm, Naruto-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, hey Hinata-chan. What's up?"

"I'm sorry I can't come with you on this mission," Hinata said softly.

Naruto gave her his customary smile and shook his head. "Stop worrying about it, Hinata-chan. It's not like you had a choice in the matter. It'll be dangerous whether you come with us or not, though it'd be nice if we had another Hyuuga with us."

Hinata smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"So who is this Shin guy anyways?" Naruto said, diverting the conversation. "I mean, since he's showed up, he's been around you a lot. Is something going on!"

"Oh no!" Hinata's face started reddening immediately.

"Haha, there is something, isn't there! Well good for you, Hinata! It's always good to have someone that you care about and cares for you."

"Umm, well, it's not really like that."

"Oh? So why is he always hanging around with you? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm kind of curious."

"Umm, well, he's from Hidden Waterfall. You know that already. And, well, he's here because of a family thing."

"Oh? Is something wrong?"

"Umm, not exactly."

"Well, if you have trouble, remember, I'm here."

"Thanks, Naruto-kun."

"Hey Naruto, get those kunais over here!" Sakura yelled over to her comrade.

"Yeah, yeah. Jeez, what a slave driver," Naruto said, winking to Hinata.

The young woman giggled as Naruto got back to work. She would miss them once they left tomorrow. If only she could go with them. But no, her father had forbid it because Shin was here. Though she knew it wasn't Shin's fault, she couldn't help but think what would have happened if he hadn't shown up.

The sound of the doors opening again caught everyone's attention. To Hinata's surprise, Shin walked in with a backpack. He looked around and everyone stared back at him.

"So, am I in the right place?" he said aloud.

Kakashi walked over and looked down at the young shinobi.

"So where are you supposed to be?" he asked.

"I presume you're Hatake Kakashi?"

A nod. Shin then handed him a paper with Tsunade's signature.

"I'm here to assist you on the mission."

Silence overcame the room upon those words coming out of Shin's mouth.

"And at the request of the Hokage, Hinata-hime is to rejoin the team."

Shin flashed a smile over to Hinata and the young woman could only stare in response. What Shin had managed to pull off was nothing short of amazing in her opinion. Not only had he circumvented her father for himself, he had taken her along. Not that many people would dare such a thing.

"Well, I guess things are in order," Kahashi said. "Everyone, this is Sentoki Shin of Hidden Waterfall. He'll be joining us for the mission."

"Yo." Shin waved to the others.

The first person to respond was also the one standing closest to the door. "A pleasure to meet you, Shin-san."

"The pleasure's mine. And who would you be?"

"My name is Rock Lee."

The two shook hands as Shin studied his new comrade. A man that moved with grace, Rock Lee was quite obviously a taijutsu specialist.

"No need to be so formal," Shin said with a smile. "We are comrades now."

"Very well, Shin-kun," Lee replied. "But may I ask, why is Hidden Waterfall involved with our mission?"

"I see words spread fast. We also have our history with Orochimaru," Shin answered. "Perhaps I'll tell you someday."

Lee nodded and accepted that. "Then as you are our newest comrade, I should introduce you to everyone."

The two walked over to Lee's teammates first.

"I've heard much about you from Neji-san," Lee said, "so I presume you two know each other."

Shin nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."

"And this is TenTen, another teammate of mine."

TenTen waved at the newcomer. She had also heard quite a bit about Shin from Neji, though her boyfriend hadn't exactly been subtle about how he felt about the newcomer. At the moment, the glare that Neji gave Shin was proof enough.

"It'll be a pleasure to work with all of you," Shin said. He ignored Neji's look and simply waited for Lee to continue the introductions.

"That man over there is Gai-sensei," Lee pointed out. "He was our jounin-sensei before we became chuunins and has stayed with us ever since. He's the greatest."

Another Taijutsu user, Shin noted. "Indeed. How many jounins are accompanying the team?"

"About a dozen from Konoha," Lee replied. "Sand is also sending reinforcements, though you're the only one from Hidden Waterfall."

Shin chuckled. "Well, what do you expect? Hidden Waterfall is small compared to Konoha."

"I see. Well then, we still gladly accept your help. Ah, this is Shino-kun and Kiba-kun. They were teammates of Hinata-san, who is over there with Naruto-kun and Sakura-san."

Shin nodded and the other two chuunins returned it. Obviously Kiba had spread the word too. The dog growled at Shin but didn't approach.

"Kiba and I have met," Shin said. "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah," Kiba muttered. "I'd still like to know how you sensed us."

A shrug. "My senses can detect many things, Kiba-san. It's part of my gift and my curse."

The three Leaf shinobis exchanged looks but didn't question. Lee and Shin moved on to the next group of ninjas.

"This is Ino-san, Shikamaru-kun, and Choji-kun. They were also part of the same team. Shikamaru was the first to become a chuunin out of his class."

"Hmph. I don't know why they bothered making me one. It was rather troublesome right away."

"You were a chuunin," Ino snapped. "What did you expect? Of course you had to do more work than us!"

"You must have impressed the people at the test if you became a chuunin first," Shin said. "I look forward to seeing your talents on the battlefield."

Shin then glanced over at Choji. The chuunin had a bag of chips in his hands and was munching away. It would be interesting to see what kind of abilities he had. But as all of them were chuunins, their talent had to have been impressive. Looks can certainly be deceiving.

"Lee-kun, a question," Shin said. "I'm getting the impression that there's more to this mission than just going after Orochimaru. What else is going on?"

"You do not know?"

"I was just added to the team," Shin replied. "I still don't know all of the details as of yet."

"I see. Then I should tell you, to stress the importance of this mission. Have you heard of the Rookie Nine?"

Shin nodded. "Hinata mentioned that she is one of them."

"Rightly so. About two and a half years ago, nine rookies from the academy were all allowed to take the chuunin test by their jounin senseis. You have met all of them, save one. Uchiha Sasuke-kun."

"Uchiha. Of the Uchiha-clan?"

Lee nodded. "The number one rookie out of his class at the Ninja Academy. He is one of the last surviving members of that clan and is extremely powerful. However, Orochimaru lured him away from Hidden Leaf. At that time, Shikamaru led his first mission as a chuunin and took most of the other rookies with him. I myself followed later and we fought a great battle against Orochimaru's elite guards. With the help of Sand's shinobis, we prevailed, but Sasuke got away and joined Orochimaru. But Sasuke is in great danger because of his rash actions and this is as much a rescue mission as one to defeat Sound."

"But isn't Sasuke a traitor for leaving Konoha?"

"Perhaps, but he is also a friend and we do not abandon friends, especially not to a fate as damned as his if he remains under Orochimaru's grasp."

"I'm not sure I understand," Shin said.

"That is not something for me to say," Lee replied. "Perhaps if you talk to Naruto, he will inform you of the details. However, the issue is one of great importance to Sasuke's teammates, Sakura-san and Naruto-kun."

"I see. Thanks for the tour, Lee-kun."

"Of course, Shin-kun. If you need anything, just let me know and I'll try to help you."

"Thanks."

Once Lee had walked off Shin made his way over to join Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura.

"Well, I guess things worked out," he said. "Though I'm probably going to get hell from your father once we get back."

"You really didn't have to do that," Hinata said.

Shin scratched his head. "Actually, it wasn't me that did that. I just used an opportunity that presented itself. Apparently my father knew about the mission and he thought it would be a good opportunity for Hidden Waterfall to settle with Orochimaru."

"Hmm? So you guys have had trouble with him too?" Naruto asked.

"Of course. I was very young when they fought, and apparently Orochimaru used some kind of forbidden technique. It took my father, two of my brothers, and my oldest sister to defeat him because of that technique. But they weren't able to kill him so he and his comrades got away."

"His comrades?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Apparently Orochimaru attacked with some kind of organization. But I'm afraid I don't know anything more."

Naruto stared at Shin for several seconds, saying nothing. He knew that Orochimaru was part of the Akatsuki and that organization was collecting demons from across the world. Did Hidden Waterfall have one as well? That would be the likeliest motive, and if Shin's family had managed to beat off the organization then they were truly fearsome.

"So, mind telling me what this mission is really about?" Shin asked, interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

The young man looked back and forth between Sakura and Naruto. These two seemed to have the most at stake in this mission, as Sasuke was their former comrade.

"We're to defeat Orochimaru," Naruto stated bluntly.

"Oh? I thought you were going to rescue your friend too."

Silence again answered him. This really was a sensitive issue for these two.

"Trust me when I say I can help with the mission," Shin said, "but I don't want to accidentally do something that will jeopardize your mission. Nor do I want you to do something stupid that might hurt our teammates."

"Not going to happen," Naruto shot back. "I know what my priorities are, and the lives of my friends are highest."

Shin smiled. "Good answer. I would have said the same thing myself."

Shin extended his hand and Naruto took it. Hinata looked proudly at the two ninjas, glad that a confrontation hadn't erupted.

"So I heard you're staying with Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "What's up with that? Are you two going out or something?"

"Naruto!" Sakura interrupted. "It's not exactly polite to ask questions like that."

"Hehe. Sorry, Hinata-chan. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that," Naruto said.

Hinata shook her reddened face and looked away. With a smile Shin patted her shoulders.

"It's nothing like that," he said. "Hinata-hime and I are old friends. As Hidden Leaf and Hidden Waterfall are preparing to sign a treaty of alliance, I was sent as a sign of goodwill, almost."

"Wow, your family must really trust you."

A solemn smile came over Shin's face. He shrugged but said nothing in response.

"So how long are you going to stay?" Naruto asked. "It's been a while since I've fought someone new. And if you really do have a bloodline limit, it might be fun."

Shin chuckled. "Believe me, you don't want me to use my bloodline limit. I can't control it well enough to use it in a mock duel."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I guess it's a matter of training. If I misuse my power, I could end up killing a lot of people."

"Wow. That's a scary bloodline," Sakura commented. "But when we face Sound, we'll need all the advantages we've got. Are you going to use it then?"

"If I have no choice, then I will most certainly use it. Especially to protect those I care about."

Hinata blushed again but her thoughts drifted to the dangers Shin had mentioned. After his fight with Kisame, he had suffered from internal bleeding. What kind of bloodline would kill its own user?

"So," Shin said as he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Mind telling me about the situation? I don't really like going into a situation blind."

"We're going to save Sasuke," Naruto said, his eyes full of determination. "This mission isn't just about defeating Orochimaru, we're also going to save Sasuke."

"Sasuke," Shin muttered. "Who exactly is he?"

"He's the last of the rookie nine," Hinata answered instead of the others. "Uchiha Sasuke-kun."

"Uchiha. Of that family." Shin leaned forward against the chair and sighed. "I've heard of another Uchiha, though this one was with Orochimaru."

"Huh? What?"

All three of the chuunins leaned in and waited for Shin to continue.

"Apparently there was an Uchiha with the organization that Orochimaru attacked with. He nearly killed my oldest brother in their duel. What a dangerous man he must be. If your Sasuke is anything alike, then this battle will be troublesome."

The organization that Orochimaru was a part of. Naruto knew fully well what that organization was. He also knew who the other Uchiha was.

"It's been over two years," he said. "Sasuke might indeed have become more powerful."

Shin sighed. "Very well then. But keep in mind that we have different priorities. My orders are to ensure that Orochimaru dies. Yours is to save your friend. I don't think those two will conflict."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks. There was another reason why they were moving out now. If they were too late, Naruto wasn't sure if he could let Shin or the others kill Orochimaru. Or perhaps that decision would be made for him.

"I'm sure we all want the same thing," Sakura finally said. "To protect those that are important to us."

"Well then, I think I'll get the rest of my stuff," Shin said. "It's been a pleasure getting to know all of you. I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san."

When he had disappeared, Hinata let out a sigh.

"Well, he's certainly an interesting person," Naruto said. "I wonder what's really going on though."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"He managed to get you back onto the team, managed to get on the team himself, and talks about Orochimaru and this organization like he knows something. He has to be up to something."

"That's not very nice, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied. "Shin-kun has been trying to help."

"Well, we'll see how things go down when we get to Sound. I wonder why the old lady Tsunade let him join the team."

"Naruto!" Before Naruto could react, a fist connected with his face and sent him crashing into a pole.  
Shin glanced over nervously at Sakura and made a mental note not to get her mad.

The chuunin turned the corner and stood in the shadows of the alley. He took out the envelope and opened it slowly. A blank piece of paper was inside but Shin saw the writing as clearly as if it was written with black ink. He glanced over it and memorized the message. Once that was done, Shin twisted the paper and it fell apart into filaments. His orders were set. Now all that remained was to watch and wait.

End of Chapter 2

I'm having a bit of trouble writing certain aspects of this, but I hope that will change by the time I get to the next chapter. Anyways, enjoy.

Z98


	4. Chapter 3

War of Love

Chapter 3: Conviction

Shin looked around at the others. All of them, including the jounins, were waiting. Waiting for their team leader.

"How did this guy get made leader of this mission if he's late for our departure?" Shin asked aloud.

"Kakashi-sensei does this all the time," said Naruto. "When we were genins, he always showed up late for our training and missions."

"So he's chronically tardy," Shin commented. "Why is he the leader again?"

"Kakashi-sensei might be late a lot, but he's still a great jounin," Sakura replied.

Just as she said that a figure landed on the bridge behind them.

"Yo! I forgot to find a caretaker for my dogs, so I had to do that at the last minute."

"LIAR!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

"You have dogs?" Shin said disbelievingly.

Kakashi looked at him and then at his two former students. "I see everyone is here. Well, let's get going then. We'll be meeting the Sand shinobis in two days."

The gathered quickly moved out and began running through the forest. Though they stayed as a group, each made sure that they were well dispersed so a single strike wouldn't get more than one of them. As they moved forward through the surrounded forest Shin made it a point to stay behind Hinata. The way things were working out, he wanted to be able to react quickly and being able to see if she was in danger would help.

"Hey, Shin, what are you staring at Hinata-chan for?" Naruto suddenly asked, popping up next to him.

Shin shook his head, annoyed that Naruto had been able to sneak up on him like that. He really was getting distracted.

"I was looking ahead, Naruto-kun. And as Hinata is in front of me, what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Hehe. I think you like her."

"And why would you be asking me this if you didn't have feelings yourself?"

"Huh? Me? What? Hinata-chan's one of my friends. If you're interested in her, I'm going to do my best to find out!"

"Quite the nosy one, aren't you?"

"Who? Me? Hehe, I guess."

"I already have Neji breathing down my neck, Naruto-kun. I don't need more people butting into my business. Besides, talk to Hinata-hime. I believe she already said she wanted to handle all this herself."

"Yeah, I know. But I still want to know what's up with the two of you. I mean, you hang around Hinata-chan a lot. It's like the two of you were married!"

Shin hid his smile. "I wouldn't go that far, Naruto-kun. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to move up. Oh, and watch out for that tree."

"Huh?"

As Shin leapt away Naruto looked forward and ducked to avoid a large branch. By the time he had recovered Shin had moved up the group but was still behind Hinata.

"Man, what's up with that guy?"

"Hey, Naruto! What are you doing?"

Looking over, Naruto noticed Sakura running close by him.

"Oh, I was just talking to that new guy. Something's going on between him and Hinata-chan."

"Well stay focused on the mission!" Sakura replied. "You can look into other people's personal lives later! For that matter, don't, because other people like their privacy!"

Naruto winced at Sakura's rebuke and only nodded. He wasn't about to get her pissed, especially after seeing her use her strength against Kakashi. With a leap Naruto moved up again and was soon close to the head.

For much of the rest of the day the group moved without rest. Finally as the sun was starting to set Kakashi signaled for them to stop.

"We'll stay here for the night," he said. "Tomorrow the Sand will meet us here and then we'll set out for Sound."

With silent nods the group broke out their packs and set up a small camp. Four of them took position around the camp to act as sentinels as the rest quickly made dinner.

"Mmm, ramen tastes good even out here!" Naruto exclaimed.

Shin looked at the young man questionably. "You brought ramen as food?"

"Of course! What was I supposed to bring?"

"Dried meat, some canned stuff, military rations?"

"Oh, they're somewhere in my backpack," Naruto replied with a smile. "But since we're still in Konoha territory, I might as well enjoy some ramen."

With a shrug Shin moved away from Naruto and sat down by Hinata.

"Well, your village certainly has a lot of interesting people," he commented.

"I think it's what makes Konoha special," Hinata replied. "We all have our interests, wishes, and talents. It all blends together to make us strong."

Shin smiled. "An interesting concept. I've learned quite a bit about Konoha, though I doubt any of it would work within my family."

"Why is that?"

"Because the way my family does things works and it's the safest way for us."

"Safest?"

"You can say it's because of our bloodline limit."

Hinata looked sadly at Shin. "It's almost like a curse, having a bloodline limit."

"Indeed it is. I think everyone who has it finds themselves trapped by it. Others expect so much from them because of their powers. A pity we can't live like ordinary people."

With a sigh Hinata found herself agreeing with Shin. A life of peace would be wonderful, but the world didn't allow it.

"It's strange," Shin suddenly said.

"What is?"

"It's because of conflict that there is need of shinobis. Constant strife, destruction, and instability need people to quell it. And yet once that is done, what point is there for shinobis to exist? And because of that, even though many shinobis are noble and have honor, we continue this cycle of conflict in this world."

"Is that so."

Hinata clutched her legs and looked down at the ground. Everything Shin had said held a good deal of truth. Despite the fact that shinobis were called upon to end conflicts, other times they started them through either assassinations or kidnappings. Could she take on such missions if she were ordered to?

"Shin-kun, do you want there to be peace?"

"Of course. It'd be nice to settle down and just live a normal life. Though with these eyes, I don't think that's possible."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't see things the same way as everyone else. That's as much my curse as being a weapon."

"You're not a weapon, Shin-kun! You're a person!"

Shin chuckled. "That I am. But a person can also be a weapon. Well, I think I'm going to get some sleep now. Good night, Hinata-hime."

"Good night, Shin-kun. But remember, you're a person first."

Nodding to Hinata as he left, Shin felt something inside his chest burn. He touched the spot and smiled slightly. It was the first time in a long while since he last experienced anything from his heart. Shin crawled into the tent he would be sharing with another Leaf shinobi and pulled the sheet over himself. A few seconds later he was asleep.

A shift awakened Shin and he was instantly alert. Something was going on outside. There was little movement in the darkness of the night so it was easy to spot the incoming. He shook his roommate awake.

"What's going on?"

"Quiet," Shin hissed. "A large group is approaching."

"It's probably just the Sand."

"In the middle of the night? I do believe Kakashi said they would be arriving the next day."

Finally nodding, the Leaf chuunin joined Shin as he left the tent. The two moved stealthily and quickly, looking around.

"Where are the sentries?" Shin asked.

"I don't know. We should have run into one by now."

Suddenly a kunai flew towards them from nowhere. Shin ducked and immediately backed away, grabbing the Leaf nin with him. Moments later it exploded and sent dirt and wood chips flying.

"Damn, we're under attack!" Shin shouted.

The Leaf nin immediately leapt off the ground and was soon engaging a masked enemy. Out of his sleeves Shin launched several shuriken. They went wild but suddenly arced around and struck two attackers. By now the entire camp was awake and the other Leaf nins were fighting. Another attacker tried to catch Shin from behind but he twisted and sent a kunai into the man's throat. Landing softly, Shin lifted off again, barely avoiding a volley of throwing stars.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Naruto darting amongst the enemy. Actually, there were several Narutos. Apparently he was trying to even the odds as they still didn't know how many enemies there were. Lee engaged the enemy with his speed, killing several with punches and kicks. His mentor was right by his side, the two covering each other. Neji and Hinata seemed to be doing the same thing, using the jyuken against any that got close.

Suddenly a fist connected and sent Shin flying back. This new opponent was much more dangerous than the others but didn't pursue him. He quickly moved on and began a duel with Kakashi. Apparently he didn't think Shin was a threat. Other shinobis were coming in for the kill anyways. Shin knocked them aside and retreated back towards the camp. He was too far outwards and could be easily surrounded. Suddenly he was back to back with someone and both fended off incoming attacks. To his surprise, it was Sakura.

After a few seconds Shin moved off again as he couldn't risk using his powers that close to an ally. Then he heard a scream and everything seemed to freeze. Without even looking, Shin knew Hinata had been hit. It didn't matter that the wound was minor, the fact that an enemy had struck her flashed through his mind. At that moment his eyes turned black and he charged towards Hinata. Neji had already gotten in front of her as Hinata stood again as more enemies pressed on. However, they had left their back exposed.

With his hands almost glowing of chakra, Shin touched one of the attackers in the back and suddenly the man's entire back exploded. The flesh ruptured and his spinal cord snapped. The bones ripped through the other flesh and the man fell, a bloody mess. The others quickly took note of this new opponent and fought back. However, Shin was moving as fast as he could now. He simply tapped the enemy and wherever he touched that area's flesh exploded. One lost his entire arm before Shin touched his chest and his heart exploded. Blood splattered all over Shin but it didn't slow him down. He merely continued on and touched another enemy on the neck. That almost severed the head as the muscles tore apart and the bone shattered. The base of the brain also became shredded and the man fell to a heap.

Upon seeing this, the other attackers began backing away from Shin and concentrated on other enemies. However, it was too late. The jounins were fully into the fight and the offensive collapsed. A retreat was soon ordered but over half of the attackers were dead. The few survivors ran but Shin stood between them and escape. Not caring, Shin dispatched the few that were close to him but didn't give chase. When it was all over, he stood in the middle of a bloodbath.

Breathing deeply, Shin walked forward and looked at his hands. They were soaked with crimson with blood. Tears began flowing out of his eyes as his body started collapsing. Without another word he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Late Afternoon+

Birds chirped in the air, quite a difference from the blood-soaked ground. Few bodies remained though as most had been buried. Several Sand shinobis stood about while Temari and Kakashi talked.

"You people certainly did a good job fighting," she commented. "Though I didn't know you could be so brutal."

"Those bodies weren't because of us," Kakashi said quietly.

"Oh? Who then?"

"One of our allies," Kakashi replied. "I've never seen anything like it. He's certainly an interesting individual."

"Are you saying one person did that?" Temari asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Ah. The way he fought was certainly unique. But as he's from a different village, I'm not too surprised."

"I thought this was to be an operation between Sand and Leaf. Who decided another village would join us?"

"That was a decision of Tsunade-sama. And I'm starting to think it was a good one too."

"Oh? You're saying one man did all that. I haven't seen a battlefield this bloody in a long time. What did he do?"

"He touched them."

Temari gave her counterpart a look and frowned. "That's it?"

"Well, I think it has something to do with his eyes. He fights much like Neji or Hinata, but with a different edge. But it's not like he's in any condition to answer us right now."

"And we're wasting time. We should be heading towards Sound now."

"I've already sent back the wounded," said Kakashi. "However, Shin can't be moved nor am I going to send him back. He's very powerful and will be helpful in the upcoming battles."

"If you say. But do you know who attacked you last night?"

Kakashi nodded. "Sound nins. Orochimaru dispatched a rather large force to try to take us down. That was a sizable portion of his military force. Perhaps he's desperate."

"Orochimaru? Maybe. But we can't delay too long. His servants will be reporting in soon."

"I know."

Inside the tent Hinata sat by her fiancé's bed again. She had done this when Shin returned after fighting Kisame and now he had single-handedly defeated over a dozen of the Sound shinobis. No, not defeated. Killed. Shin had demonstrated his abilities to a frightening degree, impressing even Neji. According to her cousin, Shin had used a technique similar to the jyuken, though it was much more bloody. The power that he had unleashed had to have been part of his bloodline limit. Even Lee and Gai could offer no explanation as to what Shin had done. The damage that Shin had inflicted was utterly impossible except with a high level jyuken strike, not normal taijutsu. But he had done it repeatedly, something not even Hinata's father could accomplish.

Slowly the young man awakened from his sleep and looked up to see Hinata again.

"Hey. Now that's the way to wake up."

Hinata placed her hand against Shin's forehead and smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

"I guess," Shin replied. "Though seeing you sitting there certainly helped."

Hinata blushed. "You don't need to say that. It was Sakura-chan that healed your wounds."

"Is that so? Internal bleeding again?"

A nod.

"Damn. I'm going to end up killing myself one of these days."

"Then why do you use your limit?" Hinata asked.

"Well, they hit you."

"What?"

Shin smiled weakly and took Hinata's hand. "They hit you. I can't let them hurt you like that."

The blush deepened. "Oh. I see."

"It's not just that, Hinata-hime," said Shin. "I should have been fighting at your side to protect you. Instead Neji was there when I couldn't be. I guess it was my way of making up for that."

"You don't have to make up for anything, Shin-kun. I can protect myself, you know. You don't have to always be by my side."

"I know. But I'd like to be there when it counts."

Hinata squeezed his hand in response. She smiled gently and patted Shin's shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll be there, Shin-kun."

"Well, I think I can get up now," Shin said and sat up.

"Are you sure?"

"What? You saw me after my little stay in the hospital. I don't take too long to heal."

After he had put on a shirt Shin and Hinata walked out. The other shinobis looked over his way though not all dared approach.

"Hey, Panda Eyes!"

"Panda Eyes?" Shin muttered, looking over at the speaker.

Naruto ran over with a big smile on his face. "So you're finally up. Quite a show you put on last night."

Shin shrugged. "I did what I had to do. Sorry about keeping everyone waiting."

"Well, that's usually my job, but it's nice to pass it on to someone else once in a while."

The trio looked behind them where Kakashi was standing.

"So, Kakashi-sensei, are we going now?"

"Well, it looks like our guest is strong enough to travel. So let's get going. Our Sand allies are getting rather impatient."

Within moments two other Leaf nins disassembled the tent Shin had been resting in and packed it up. Hinata handed Shin his backpack and soon the entire force was moving out again. However, now it seemed as if an entire army was on the move. They were soon out of the forests and crossed large open fields. This left them exposed but there was no helping that. With Orochimaru's subordinates racing back to report to their master, speed was of the essence.

As they passed through the meadows Naruto once again caught up with Shin.

"So, Panda Eyes, what the heck was that you used?"

"It's a form of Taijutsu specifically for my bloodline limit," Shin replied, "very much like the jyuken. But as you obviously saw, mine can cause much greater damage."

'Yeah. You took down those Sound nins as if they were nothing. So why didn't you do the same with Kisame?"

Shin snorted. "If I managed to get close enough to use it, I would have been dead. Besides, Kisame is on a completely different level than these guys."

"Well, you're definitely going to be a help when we get to Sound. But don't use your abilities on Sasuke."

"Hmm, Sasuke. If I remember, the Uchiha clan had the Sharingan bloodline limit. I don't think I would be able to get close enough to even try it."

"Good."

"But a warning, Naruto. If he harms Hinata-hime in any way, I will go after him to kill."

Again Shin's eyes flashed black and Naruto didn't doubt him. There was conviction behind those eyes that Naruto didn't doubt.

"Yeah well, he'll have to go through me to get to anyone else," said Naruto. "We'll be fine."

"If you say so."

The two traveled silently side by side, though they were more in the middle of the formation. Hinata wasn't too far ahead, explaining Shin's position. Naruto preferred to be in the lead but he still had some things to ask Shin. He'd stay here until those questions were answered.

For another two days the small army traveled. They passed through meadows, forged rivers, and filtered through forests. Soon they were in Sound territory, putting everyone on edge. The jounins led the way, checking for traps and ambushes. After they were relatively sure nothing was around, another small camp was set up.

"We strike at Sound at dusk," Kakashi stated. "It's likely that Orochimaru knows that we're coming, so we don't have surprise on our side. Thus we'll have to use what surprise we have left and strike at weak points."

"We'll have to launch sorties to distract them and pinpoint those weak points," said Temari. "This could get messy."

"I'll lead a team of three shinobis in for one of the sorties," said Gai. "I propose that we use two other teams as well and keep the rest back for the main strike."

"Agreed," said Kakashi. "I'll take my team in too. Though I'll need a third member."

"Perhaps you should take that new kid," Temari suggested. "You seem rather impressed with him."

"Well, Shin would be a good addition. Though it'll depend on how well Naruto and Sakura can work with him. It wouldn't mean much if the three can't cooperate."

"Do what you will," said Temari. "I will stay here and wait for word before going in with the rest of the shinobis. As for the last team, I have four chuunins that are up to the challenge."

Kakashi nodded. "Then let's get going."

"Attack!"

The cry immediately sent the gathered jounins into action. It seemed as if Orochimaru was unwilling to let them make the next move. Sound nins charged through the forest and attacked. Though the first wave was repelled, two chuunins were already dead. The formation quickly reorganized itself as another wave came. However, this time they had a far more dangerous foe to contend with.

A young man wearing glasses landed amongst several Sand nins and promptly killed two. The others fell back but he continued advancing and nearly got another before Temari's fan blew him away. Landing softly, the man stood and looked down at his opponents. Naruto quickly recognized him.

"Kabuto! You bastard!"

The traitorous shinobi looked over at Naruto and flashed him a sly smile.

"It's been a while, Naruto-kun. I see you've improved since our last encounter."

"This time you're not getting away!"

Naruto launched himself at Kabuto and the ninja responded with a hail of stars. Evading them with ease, Naruto managed to get in close and punched at Kabuto. His opponent countered and kicked Naruto in the chest, pushing him back. Despite this Naruto unleashed his own volley of kunais, forcing Kabuto to back off as well.

From out of nowhere Sakura appeared and threw a punch at Kabuto. He ducked and the blow caught the tree trunk, shattering it. Kabuto immediately ducked to the side and stood facing his two opponents.

"Naruto, I'll take care of him," Sakura stated.

After looking between the two, Naruto nodded and took off to help his comrades. This left the two medical nins facing off.

"Sakura-chan. I see you've grown into a fine young woman. You've even become the Hokage's apprentice. Impressive."

"You have a lot to answer for, Kabuto," Sakura said, glaring fiercely.

"Oh? And you'll be my executioner? I think not."

Kabuto took the first strike and swung at Sakura. Her own blade blocked the kunai and Sakura ducked under, coming up with a fast punch. Kabuto twisted to the side, landing his own blow. The open palm struck Sakura in the side as he slid back. As he looked on, Kabuto's smile disappeared. Instead of falling like she was supposed to, the area around impact point simply glowed with chakra for a few seconds.

"That's not going to work," Sakura said to him. "I've learned quite a few things from Tsunade-shishou and one of them was to prevent attacks like that from succeeding."

Kabuto cursed under his breath and prepared his next attack. However, Sakura was already on the move. Running towards him, Sakura tried to get close enough to use her strength. Kabuto, sensing the danger, quickly moved away but Sakura was coming on too quickly. Then Kabuto stopped his retreat and two more kunais appeared in his hands. Two thrusts stabbed at Sakura and she had to stop her own attack to defend. This gave Kabuto the chance to pursue a real offense and he pressed it. As he nearly landed a blow, Sakura deflected it with three senbons. Her other hand was soon similarly armed and the three needles stabbed at Kabuto.

Blade locked with needles as the two dueled. Sakura managed to prick Kabuto's hand before falling back. It was only a matter of time now. Kabuto panted as he looked on. Sakura was a far deadlier opponent than he originally imagined. She had learned quite a bit from Tsunade. As he took a step forward suddenly his vision became blurry. Staring at her, he realized what had happened.

"It's a powerful poison," Sakura stated. "My needles were designed specifically to deliver such toxins."

"Damn," Kabuto muttered. "How did I let a trick like that get pulled on me?"

As the poison ran through his system Kabuto quickly tried to adjust his body to it. However it moved incredibly fast. It was soon throughout his entire body.

"Damn you!"

Fighting down the pain, Kabuto charged forward at Sakura. Despite the poison his movements were still incredibly fast and his aim precise. Sakura blocked the first two strikes but the next one grazed her arm. Making sure she too hadn't been poisoned, Sakura continued her defense. There was no way for her to win this battle with Kabuto in such a rage. She had to wait until the poison took its toll and showed him down. Kabuto lived up to his reputation as he pressed the attack. However, after several minutes, Sakura noticed something wrong. The spot where she had wounded him was bleeding heavily but he wasn't slowing down. Somehow Kabuto was draining his blood and the poison with it while still maintaining his stamina. She would have to poison him again.

Taking the chance, Sakura ducked and poked Kabuto in the arm. He winced and pulled back again but the damage was done. There was no way he could keep draining his own blood like that.

"I'm impressed, Sakura. But before I die, I'll make sure you follow me."

Kabuto began moving faster and faster, surprising Sakura with his tenacity. Suddenly he was behind her and grabbed her by the neck. As she struggled, Kabuto brought down his kunai and stabbed her in the heart. He grinned but it soon disappeared as he found himself holding a piece of wood.

"Damn. Kawarimi."

"That's right!"

Turning his head, Kabuto was just in time to see Sakura's fist make contact with his head. His neck snapped from the force of the blow and he was thrown back. When he hit the tree, the body disappeared. Sakura hadn't been the only one to use a replacement. Scanning the area, Sakura searched for her opponent. Just then kunais started raining down around her and Sakura moved around, dodging all of them. A kick struck her in the chest but she reacted by catching the leg. She stabbed it with the senbons and sliced through the muscles and nerves.

Screaming in pain, Kabuto punched Sakura in the shoulders and pulled away. Sakura kept on him, not giving him the chance to recover. With a swift thrust Sakura stabbed Kabuto in the neck with a needle. Despite the pain he threw her back and pulled out the needle, throwing it away. The battle lost, Kabuto retreated into the shadows. Sakura didn't bother giving chase, knowing that the poison would kill him in due time.

When she returned to the rest of the group Sakura noticed the devastation that had happened. Most of the Sound attackers were dead though a few Leaf and Sand shinobis had also fallen. But they had inflicted horrendous casualties on the enemy and now Sound's military might was more or less decimated.

"Ah, Sakura," Kakashi said. "We could use your help treating the wounded."

Sakura nodded. "I'm on it."

As she looked over the injured, Sakura found that few had suffered serious injuries. But when she came to Shin, she was in for a shock. The young man was covered in blood and there was a large gash in his side. Hinata was at his side washing the blood away.

"Shin-san! What happened?"

The young man smiled weakly. "Did this to myself. I kind of used my powers again and I lost control."

"You did this at the last battle too," Sakura said as she began healing him. "But it wasn't this bad."

"No, last time it was just internal damage. This time I guess I overdid it."

"Will you be able to continue on with us?"

Shin nodded. "That won't be a problem. I heal fast anyways."

Once the gash was more or less gone Sakura bandaged the spot. As everything was taken care of she moved on to help other people. Shin stood and winced a bit but remained standing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hinata asked.

"I'll be fine," Shin assured her. "Besides, it's not like this hasn't happened before."

"Shin-kun, why do you press yourself so hard?"

"Well, why shouldn't I? I have to improve my skills and combat is just one of the places where I can. Besides, this is all so one day I don't end up hurting myself or any of my friends else with my powers."

"I see."

"Don't worry, Hinata-hime. I'm not suicidal or anything."

"Oh! I didn't mean to suggest that!"

Shin chuckled and patted Hinata's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Each of us have a different way we live. Mine just involves quite a bit of struggle."

"Even if it doesn't really need to?"

"All life has struggles, Hinata-hime. It's how you deal with them that matters. Though sometimes I do wish I could live an easier life. But then again, don't we all?"

Before Hinata could answer Kakashi called out to the troops.

"All right! We're moving in! As it's obvious Orochimaru won't let us coordinate probing attacks and a main strike, we're going to attack along the perimeter. Get ready. This it the real thing now."

Shin stretched a bit and smiled at Hinata. "It looks like we still have more work to do. Let's finish this so we can go home."

'So we can go home.'

Hinata smiled at that phrase. Going home would be nice. Especially if it was with all her friends.

End of Chapter 3

I got this one out rather quickly thanks to the fact that I'm on Spring Break. But never expect me to pull off something this quickly again. Ever.

Z98


	5. Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 4: Reenactment

There were dozens of traps scattered about the perimeter, but the shinobis made quick work of them. With precision, several teams moved in and engaged the guards, slaughtering any who they came upon. The air was thick with shurikens and kunais as both sides fought at distance and close range. But throughout all of this Orochimaru had yet to show his face. Even stranger, Kabuto didn't lead the defense and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. This only made it worse for Naruto and Sakura as they fought their way deeper into the area.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Kakashi shouted. "Don't get cut off from the rest of us!"

"I know!" Naruto replied, "but we have to find Sasuke!"

Shin dodged another swing and stabbed his opponent in the side and pushed away. Looking over the battlefield, it was clear that Sound was losing. How could they possibly withstand the power of Leaf and Sand? But this was hardly his concern at the moment. Hinata was a few feet away and the two were close enough to offer each other support. This was how he felt it should be. Any further musing would have to wait as another wave of Sound shinobis appeared. This time, they moved with coordination and skill, killing the first few that challenged them.

"Well, it looks like these shinobis are jounins," Shin noted.

Neji nodded and stood with the two as they prepared to face them. However, Kakashi and several other Leaf jounins landed before them.

"Neji, take those two and regroup with Temari."

"But-"

"Do it!"

"Too late!" Shin shouted.

The Sound jounins came down on them and began dueling with Kakashi and his comrades. Two others turned their attention to the trio and moved towards them. Hinata and Neji quickly assumed stances while Shin sheathed his knife.

"I'll handle the one on the right," Neji said. "You two take the other."

With a nod the three charged, making the first move. Out of nowhere a blast of air approached them. Sensing the movement, Shin grabbed Hinata and pulled her out of the path. Their opponent smiled and made another hand seal. This was followed by another blast that Shin dodged.

"As expected from someone of Hidden Sound," he muttered.

His eyes turning black, Shin moved in for a close-in strike. Before he touched his opponent a shrilling sound stopped him and his body froze. Cursing, Shin tried to break out of the trance as the jounin prepared to stab him. However, the blow never came as Hinata blocked it and pushed Shin back. The movement reawakened his body and Shin circled, preparing for another strike. By then Hinata had also retreated and the two attacked together. Even this wasn't enough as the jounin dodged both strikes and grabbed Hinata, throwing her into Shin. He followed that up with a hail of shurikens. As the stars flew towards them, Shin pulled out his knife and slashed the air three times. Before their very eyes the shurikens fell apart and the metal pieces fell to the ground.

"Let's see how strong you really are," Shin said.

With another slash the knife began glowing of chakra and seemed to strike something in midair. Blood spouted from the jounin's arm and intensified as Shin pressed down upon the knife. Reacting, the jounin began throwing more shurikens but Hinata came forward and blocked them. With Hinata now in front of him, Shin quickly shifted his angle of attack to avoid hurting her in the process. Finally the blade went free and sliced through whatever was holding it up. At that moment the jounin screamed out in pain as his arm went limp.

"Learn to respect my family's bloodline," Shin stated. "Orochimaru certainly did."

"Die, you bastard!"

The jounin charged despite his limp arm and blasted away at the two with sound waves. The throbbing built up in Shin's body and he found he couldn't move again. From the looks of it, Hinata was also trapped. Right before he was upon them a fury of punches sent him flying. Neji appeared before them and leapt off once more, striking the man in the heart. With one last gasp he fell motionless on the ground.

The two chuunins regained control of their body and looked around. The battle seemed to be dying down as few Sound shinobis remained alive. Kakashi landed next to them and looked them over.

"Impressive," he said. "Let's move out and join Temari now. Her group should be attacking now."

With a nod they moved to follow the other jounins when suddenly the ground began rumbling.

"What the hell is that?" Shin muttered.

"Look out!"

The cry made the shinobis scatter just as a giant snakehead came crashing down upon where they were standing.

"Shit. Scatter and concentrate your attacks!"

Shin moved back and quickly threw several explosive tags. But with a snake of this size, it was hardly a surprise when they did almost nothing. As he darted around, a figure suddenly jumped over them and landed on the snake. Blue light gathered in the figure's hands and he thrust downwards. An explosion erupted from the impact and smoke enveloped the battlefield. When the dust had settled, Kakashi stood at the center and the snake was gone.

"Damn," Shin muttered. "What did he just do?"

"Chidori," Neji answered. However, he offered no more information.

With a shrug Shin accepted the answer and didn't push it. A technique that powerful was extremely valuable and not something one would share openly.

"So now what?" he asked. "Are we still going to make the rendezvous?"

"I doubt this is over," Kakashi said. "Orochimaru won't let us go that easily."

"Quite correct, Kakashi."

The new voice caught everyone off guard and they all looked upwards. There standing on one of the branches was their target, Orochimaru himself.

"Damn, I didn't expect him to come out this soon," Kakashi muttered.

"We really don't have a choice," said Neji. "We'll have to take him down."

Even though he was surrounded by enemies Orochimaru remained motionless. Instead his gaze fell towards Shin and the black eyes.

"You, of the Sentoki clan."

Shin glared back. "That's right, you monster. And you're going to die today for what you did to my family!"

Out of his sleeves Shin revealed an entire arsenal of shurikens. He let them loose in volleys, timed so they would provide the least amount of places where an opponent could dodge. To his surprise, Orochimaru blocked all of them with only one hand. But then again, Shin realized that he had gotten careless. This was a former member of the Akatsuki and a man that had defeated the Hokage of Hidden Leaf. Not even a miracle would have allowed him to defeat Orochimaru by himself.

"Hahahaha. My, aren't you one quick to anger. I like that. You know, the way you looked at me, it reminds me of Sasuke-kun."

"Sasuke! Where is he, Orochimaru!" Kakashi demanded.

"Oh, I sent him on a little mission. After all, if he can kill his former comrades, he'll be ready for me."

"What!"

Orochimaru let out another cruel laugh and launched himself at the shinobis. He killed two effortlessly and nearly caught a third when Kakashi intervened. The two blades clashed and Kakashi deflected the swing. His Sharingan eye watched Orochimaru closely, waiting for any sign.

"Well, Copy Ninja, do you intend to mimic my forbidden jutsu?"

"I don't need any of your abominations to defeat you," Kakashi shot back.

"Is that so? We'll just have to see about that."

"Neji, take the other chuunins and find Naruto and Sakura. We can't let Sasuke kill them."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

With a nod Neji and the remaining chuunins began moving out. All but one. Shin stepped forward next to Kakashi and twirled his knife.

"Shin, what are you doing?"

"My family has a score to settle with this bastard," Shin replied. "I'm not about to just run away."

"The other jounins and I can handle this. Go. Aren't you supposed to protect Hinata anyways?"

Shin gave Kakashi a rueful smile. "As much as I hate to say it, Neji will protect Hinata-hime no matter what. This is something I have to do no matter what."

As Kakashi looked over at his opponent he sighed. "Then don't die here."

With that last statement chakra manifested in Kakashi's hand once more and he turned towards Orochimaru. The battle was about to begin anew.

In another part of the forest, Naruto and Sakura stopped running and rested behind a large tree.

"Do you think we lost them?" Sakura asked.

"It looks like it. Damn, how did we get separated from the others?"

"The way they fought," Sakura analyzed. "It's almost like they were herding us. Could it be Sasuke-kun's doing?"

Naruto grunted. "I wouldn't put it past him. C'mon, let's get back to the others."

The two took off once again and weaved through the trees. There was no sign of any Sound shinobis so at the moment they were in the clear. But Sakura had already guessed right when she said this was planned. Whistling sounds alerted the two and they jumped aside as several shurikens flew past them. They arced around and Naruto immediately saw the danger.

"Sakura! Get out of there!"

Hair-thin string guided the shurikens as they spun around Sakura and immobilized her. Sakura was suspended in the air as the wire tightened with every pass of the shurikens. Before she could break free a long stream of fire came behind the bushes and incinerated her form.

"Sakura!"

Once the stream of fire dissipated the wire went lax and the shurikens fell to the ground.

"Sasuke! You bastard!"

Out of the branches the lone figure stepped forward. He looked down at Naruto and grinned.

"It's been a while, idiot. Do you really think that would have fooled me? Come on out, Sakura."

Three needles shot forward from different directions towards Sasuke. He dodged them easily and quickly spotted the real location. Sasuke's response was another round of shurikens. This time Naruto sliced through all of the strings and dodged as he went. He and Sakura had prepared for this moment quite thoroughly. They had to disable Sasuke without killing him. But with a shinobi of his level, that was easier said than done.

"You don't know what Orochimaru is going to do to you, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "He only wants your body for his own!"

"Stop with the nonsense," Sasuke replied. "Do you honestly think I'm going to believe that?"

"What reason would I have to lie!"

"Because you know you can't defeat me."

Rage boiled inside Naruto as he charged forward. Even if Sasuke was his friend, there were times he wished he could knock the daylights out of him. Right now was one of those times. As he threw several punches at Sasuke, Naruto did his best to keep him distracted. Because of the Sharingan, he and Sakura couldn't exchange signals so they had to rely on instinct. At the right moment Naruto jumped above Sasuke and two needles sped towards him. Reacting with frightening speed, Sasuke dodged them only to notice several more needles converging upon him. The trap was well-laid and stood a chance of getting him. But again his speed came to his rescue and after twisting around a few more times the danger was past.

"Damn it," Naruto muttered. "He's moving way too fast for Sakura-chan to hit him."

"I grow tired of this game, Naruto. It is clear who the superior shinobi is if you're resorting to such desperate tactics."

Before Naruto could respond Sasuke charged and tore through the branches. He was upon Naruto in the blink of an eye and punched him in the chest. Naruto caught the blow and used the leverage to jump, using a drop kick on Sasuke. The blow did nothing and Sasuke simply threw Naruto aside. Turning his back, Sasuke shot forth another salvo of shurikens, but they weren't aimed for Naruto. The stars sliced through the branches and Sakura immediately jumped away, avoiding their deadly edges. But Sasuke simply rotated his hand and they came around once more, bearing down on her.

"It's not going to be that easy, Sasuke-kun!"

After she dodged them once more, Sakura grabbed hold of the wires and pulled. The move caught Sasuke off guard and he lost his footing just as Sakura threw another array of needles. Sasuke quickly released the wires and allowed the momentum to carry him forward before at the last moment twirling in the air and deflecting the needles with his kunai. By now it was clear that the two of them wouldn't be able to defeat Sasuke with their current tactics.

Having no choice, Naruto signaled to Sakura to abandon their current plans. But in their preparations, they had multiple strategies just in case any failed. It was time to fight a coordinated battle.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Fifteen more Narutos appeared on various branches and surrounded Sasuke. Their movements became random so as to confuse the Sharingan before all of them began making runs against Sasuke. A fury of punches and kicks came forward but Sasuke dodged or blocked all of them. When he retaliated, he found to his frustration that all of the shadow clones could avoid his strikes as well. Naruto was obviously up to something and Sasuke wasn't about to let him carry out another plan.

With little effort the Sharingan picked out the real Naruto and Sasuke came down upon him with a vengeance. The blur of speed that erupted from him caught Naruto off guard and unable to dodge the blow. However, he wasn't the only one present. One of the clones knocked Naruto aside while taking the hit and disappearing while three others came forward to counter. Again Sasuke let his momentum carry him and dodged every attack. He spun in the air and sliced at the clones with his hands, striking all three.

Naruto spat out the dirt in his mouth and cracked his knuckles. Though he didn't want to hurt his friend too badly, they might have to beat him into unconsciousness to save him. With eleven clones left, this would be his best shot at hitting Sasuke. And if he lost any more shadow clones, he wouldn't have enough to perform the jutsu.

"Sakura-chan! Now!"

From her hidden position, Sakura came forward once again and landed before Sasuke. She punched the branch they were standing on and broke it with ease, forcing Sasuke to jump away. Sakura followed him and made sure Sasuke wouldn't be able to stand in the same place for too long. Because she was attacking from a distance using her strength, Sasuke was hard pressed to get close enough to stop her. Finally, losing his patience, he charges through the debris and comes up for a close-in strike. With her target nearly touching her, Sakura brought forth her needles and stabbed Sasuke in the arm. To her surprise, her target shifted and all the needles managed to catch was part of his shirt. Shreds of fabric ripped off and Sakura moved quickly to block but it was too late. The blow connected and sent Sakura flying back. She landed on her back before rolling to her feet and retreating even more. She couldn't give Sasuke an opening to attack.

By now Naruto had had enough time and reappeared. He and the other shadow clones surrounded Sasuke at more or less equal distance.

"Let's begin."

Sasuke looked around and saw that all of the Narutos held Rasengans in their hands. And from the looks of it, Naruto wasn't bluffing. Each swirling ball of air was infused with chakra and the Narutos held them forward.

"Dai Uzumaki Rasengan!"

Before Sasuke could even figure out what was going on, the spheres in each Narutos' hands erupted. The air movement intensified to such a point that it became visible with the strands of chakra fused with it. No matter how fast he moved, Sasuke couldn't avoid the wind and found himself trapped within the vortex. Even though the Sharingan revealed each strand of chakra, the amount of air they blew along was incredible. Every time he thought he dodged them a cute appeared on his body. They were simply too numerous to avoid even for him.

"I see you've changed as well, Naruto. But I'll never lose to you!"

"You might not lose to me, but you will lose to us! Sakura-chan! Now!"

From above Sakura faced downwards and began spinning. From under her arm bands came a shower of needles. They weren't even aimed at Sasuke and simply fell into the vortex. However, it was soon apparent what they intended. As they traveled along the streams, the speed of the needles increased and quickly drew closer to the center. With all the needles coming in at different directions, angles, and times, it was impossibly for Sasuke to block them all. Now he simply had no options remaining except one.

Not wasting any time, Sasuke sliced open his hand and made the necessary seals. Just as the needles were about to strike him, he activated the final seal.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

"Shit!" Naruto muttered. "Sakura-chan! Summon!"

The vortex struck a massive presence and shattered as a massive purple snake appeared. Sasuke stood on the head, breathing heavily but hardly finished.

Immediately dispelling the Rasengan and the shadow clones, Naruto bit his thumb and activated the seals. Within seconds Sakura had followed suit and more trees came crashing down as two more new masses landed in the forest. As the smoke cleared, Naruto looked at the battlefield before them. A large section of the forest had already been destroyed by his Dai Uzumaki Rasengan. The summoning simply made the area flatter as the fallen trees were crushed into the ground. This was the devastation that had resulted from their battle. It would only get worse as the fighting continued.

"What is it with you people and calling me out in such troublesome situations?" Manda demanded.

GamaBunta looked over at the scene and released a cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"Well, this certainly brings back memories. I'll have to do a better job finishing things this time."

"Hey Frog Boss, we're trying to save Sasuke, not kill him!" Naruto said quickly.

Sasuke laughed and looked over at Sakura and Naruto. "If you really think you can defeat me so easily, you're more stupid than when I left the two of you."

"And yet we've already accomplished our objective," Sakura stated confidently.

At first Sasuke was confused by the statement before a sharp pain in his arm caught his attention. A single needle had managed to strike Sasuke before he finished summoning Manda and was now embedded within his muscle. Cursing, Sasuke tore it out and threw it aside. Even now he could feel the poison entering his system.

"It looks like I'll have to kill you quickly. Haha. Think of this as my paying homage to our time together, despite the waste it was."

"A waste of time?" Sakura screamed. "Sasuke-kun, the only time you've wasted is spending these past three years with Orochimaru! He's nothing but scum and he only wants you as a host! Why can't you see that?"

"It is you that cannot see a thing," Sasuke replied. "Come, Manda! I'm sure you'll enjoy some fried frog. Katon Karyu Endan!"

Fire shot out of his mouth and formed into a serpent form. It flew forward and scorched the very air, making it unbearably hot. The wood was set ablaze and soon enough a forest fire began spreading.

"Damn it, this isn't good," said Naruto.

"Tell me about it," GamaBunta replied.

The frog inhaled and suddenly blew out several spheres of water. It smashed into the fire dragon and extinguished it with the following shots showering the burning trees. However, it failed to douse out all the fire and it continued to spread.

"Zeshi Nensan!"

The acid rained down upon where Manda was but the giant snake moved quickly, burrowing under the ground. Acid splashed and scarred the land, leaving more gashes because of the battle.

"Where is he?" Naruto wondered.

"Under!" Sakura shouted.

Jumping off of Katsuyu, Sakura focused her chakra and smashed the ground. The very earth crumbled and shook from the blow. Chunks of earth were thrown into the air and revealed Manda indeed hiding in one spot.

"Now!" Naruto shouted.

GamaBunta pumped his hind legs and took off towards the snake. Drawing both knives he slashed at Manda, forcing the snake to retreat. However, Manda soon lashed out and grabbed hold of one blade. As the two struggled, GamaBunta brought the other knife to bear as Manda flailed with his tail. The two were soon locked together with neither being able to gain an advantage. Katsuyu positioned herself to the side and unleashed another rain of acid. With no other option Sasuke blew a massive fireball and used it as a shield for himself and Manda. The fire quickly burned away most of the acid but several drops still struck, burning at the snake skin.

With both their summons occupied, Naruto jumped from GamaBunta and landed on Manda's head. He charged and engaged Sasuke in another duel. Behind the snake Sakura ran forward and punched Manda's side. The snake shook from the blow and tried to knock Sakura away. She flipped over the tail and with this opening GamaBunta slashed at Manda's head. The snake pulled back, releasing the other knife, and avoided the decapitation attempt. He immediately lunged forward but GamaBunta blocked it again with his knife.

"You're running out of tricks, you stupid snake," he taunted.

Manda pressed forward and used his speed to try to wrap himself around GamaBunta. But just as he was about to latch on something caught his tail and forced him to stop. This was just in time for another rain of acid and it splattered all over his skin. Screaming out in pain, Manda swerved aside and immediately shed his skin. As the empty shell struck the ground it crumbled from the chemicals eating at it.

"Damn you, you stupid slug!"

Naruto landed softly before digging in to charge again. Sasuke had been forced off Manda's head by Katsuyu's attack and was beginning to slow down due to the poison. The two clashed once more with their kunais and fought back and forth amongst the devastated landscape.

"You don't honestly believe you'll win, do you?" Sasuke taunted. "I haven't even demonstrated my full capabilities!"

Naruto didn't respond and continued fighting. This went back and forth as neither could gain the advantage. However, the battle amongst the summons was being determined rather quickly. Manda again found himself pinned down by the tail as more acid poured upon him. He finally slapped Sakura aside and struck Katsuyu. With his prey in his grasp Manda opened his jaws and sank them into the slug's flesh. Immediately Katsuyu burst apart but instead of retreating clung to Manda's body. Within seconds each little Katsuyu had secreted more acid along the entire length of the snake. There was no way Manda could overcome this and he couldn't shed his skin again so quickly. As he thrashed about the Katsuyu clones fell off and moved away. The snake now immobilized, GamaBunta drove his knife into Manda's head and forced the summon to disappear.

Sakura looked over at their two allies and smiled. "Thanks for your help, GamaBunta, Katsuyu."

"It was a pleasure, Sakura-sama," Katsuyu replied.

"Remind that gaki that we still need to have a drink sometime," GamaBunta said, "so he better not die."

With those parting words they too disappeared, leaving Sakura to join Naruto in trying to subdue Sasuke once more. By now, despite the poison, Sasuke remained standing and defiant.

"Sakura-chan, shouldn't the poison have brought him down already?"

Sakura nodded. "I don't know what's wrong. That one hit should have been enough."

"You two still don't get it, do you? I'm not about to fall to your petty tricks."

The two shinobis braced themselves as chakra began surrounding Sasuke. The curse mark upon his neck began glowing once more and slowly expanded over his entire body.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing!" Sakura screamed. "You're going to kill yourself that way!"

"I've already died once," Sasuke replied. "I'm not afraid of death. But you should be!"

The black hair erupted into a white mane and his skin turned a sickly brown. A seam appeared in the back of his shirt as it was slowly torn apart. Wings sprouted from his back and animal eyes looked at them behind the Sharingan.

"I will not lose to the likes of you!"

Grasping his hand, black chakra began accumulating and burst into lightning. The charge Sasuke held in his hand was far larger than anything Naruto or Sakura had seen before and the sheer power behind it was no laughing matter. Sasuke was indeed being serious now.

Kakashi jumped aside as three more shurikens came his way. So far Orochimaru seemed to be simply toying with them. He heard more laughing as Orochimaru caught another jounin and literally tore him in half. Cursing silently, Kakashi continued moving before coming to a rest higher in the trees. Shin landed close by and crouched.

"Damnation. There isn't any water near here."

Kakashi sighed. "Indeed. You are from Hidden Waterfall, after all."

Shin nodded before moving off again. Though his training had focused upon controlling his bloodline limit, his family hadn't neglected to teach him the basics. Now those skills would have been a welcome addition to his arsenal, but he didn't have the chakra to create any substantial amount of water. All he had was the bloodline limit now.

"Why are you hiding, Kakashi?" Orochimaru spoke to the trees. "You should know, Sasuke is going to kill his friends right now. And once he does, I'll be claiming him as my own."

Doing his best to ignore the jabs, Kakashi considered his options. Orochimaru was far more powerful than anyone he had faced before. Even with the many jounins backing up him, it would be difficult to kill a Sanin. A pity Jiraiya wasn't here.

"But perhaps I should put you out of your misery so you won't have to see the broken bodies of your students. How about that, Kakashi?"

There weren't many options left. The longer this fight dragged out the more comrades Orochimaru would pick off. They had to attack now. Charging from his hiding place, Kakashi threw several kunais with explosive tags around Orochimaru. As expected, the trick didn't work as Orochimaru jumped above the explosions and began pursuing Kakashi. Other Leaf jounins took shots as well but Orochimaru blocked their efforts.

"Enough of this playing around, Kakashi," Orochimaru said as he stopped. "I think it's time an old friend joined us for this. I'm sure you'll be glad to see him. After all, it's been over fourteen years since you last saw him."

The statement gave Kakashi pause as he quickly realized what Orochimaru meant to do. He had heard about what happened during the battle with the Third Hokage. If Orochimaru really meant to use that forbidden jutsu, they would stand no chance. He had to put a stop to it now.

"I'll not allow you to desecrate his memories in such a way!"

Kakashi forced his chakra into his hands and brought forth the Chidori. With the blue lightning in his hand, he rushed Orochimaru and aimed for the heart. However, it was too late. Orochimaru moved aside with ease and struck Kakashi in the chest, disrupting the Chidori. Snakes shot out from his sleeve and sank their fangs into Kakashi, injecting their venom. With supreme effort Kakashi brought his kunai to bear and cut down the snakes. He fell back, wounded but still able to fight.

"There's nothing you can do to stop this, Kakashi. Simply accept it! Kyuchiyose Edo Tensei!"

On the ground before Orochimaru a hole appeared and a single coffin rose.

"No!"

The wooden cover fell off and a long figure stepped forward. The wind rippled over his coat and caught the blond hair. All of the Leaf jounins stood in awe at the man that stood before them.

"Hahaha. How does it feel, Kakashi, to face your old teacher once again?"

From the shadows Shin watched. He felt his blood run cold seeing the same jutsu that had cost him a sister. Then a burning hatred came upon him and his eyes swirled into the void.

"You're a monster, Orochimaru. You have no respect for anything."

"Why should I when I can cheat death?"

Kakashi held up his hand once more and summoned his chakra. "I will not allow you to dishonor the Fourth in such a way!"

"You don't have much choice in the matter," Orochimaru replied as he inserted the kunai. "Now, prepare to meet your end!"

End of Chapter 4

Wow. Basically one continuous battle with Sasuke and we see the battle with Orochimaru kicked off. As for the Dai Uzumaki Rasengan, Naruto isn't exactly the most imaginative one when it comes to names, so I thought it would be appropriate. Next chapter I'll finally reveal what Shin's bloodline limit is. Well, sort of. And review to let me know what you people think. Also, I think it's time I actually thanked my prereader, Jiri-sama. She's been a big help in picking out my mistakes. Thanks.

Z98


	6. Chapter 5

Okay, yes a ten page battle was a bit excessive, but don't expect this one to be any shorter. Well, not really anyways. Anyways, I'm a bit burned out from writing ten pages of fighting so some of the fights here may seem a bit, incomplete, compared to what I did earlier.

Chapter 5: Farewell

A deathly stillness settled across the battlefield as Yondaime's body fully reverted. He stretched a bit and surveyed the battlefield around them before settling on Kakashi.

"Well Kakashi, it's been a long time. I see you've grown into a fine shinobi."

"Fourth," Kakashi muttered. "Orochimaru! You won't get away with this!"

"Oh? Does it hurt to see your old teacher in such a state?" Orochimaru taunted, laughing in the process. "I'm sure there were a few things that Yondaime wanted to teach you but never got the chance. You should be thanking me for this opportunity."

"Orochimaru?" Yondaime said. "I see that you've managed to survive for this long. A pity that I wasn't around to stop you."

"It's the Fourth!" one of the other jounins muttered. "But this is impossible!"

"Yondaime-sama? How did Orochimaru pull that off?"

"It's a forbidden jutsu," Kakashi stated. "He used the same one to summon the First and Second when he fought the Third. But how did you summon him from Shinigami's stomach?"

"Now, Kakashi. That's not something you'll find out easily."

"So you managed to bring them back from the dead as well?" Yondaime said, having heard Kakashi's words. "A shame indeed. You would not have harmed Konoha had I been there."

"Enough talk," Orochimaru growled. "Go forth, my puppet, and execute them!"

The movement was a blur as Yondaime lived up to his nickname. The Yellow Flash moved like lightning and soon three jounins found seals placed on their body. Before they could react the Fourth was behind them and each one met a quick end. Kakashi raced forward trying to catch up to him but it was no use. If Yondaime didn't want anyone near him, it wasn't going to happen.

Kurenai did a series of hand seals and within seconds, she had disappeared. Though Kakashi still knew where she was, hopefully her illusion would be enough to fool the Fourth. But all things considered, nothing was certain with the Fourth. Asuma jumped forward and tried to strike the Fourth. As Yondaime stepped back, Asuma activated the chakra and extended his blades. But such a simple trick wouldn't work with the Fourth and he simply disappeared, leaving the jounin bewildered. A few seconds later, the Fourth appeared behind Asuma and knocked him aside.

As Kakashi landed again trying to find Yondaime, Shin appeared besides him.

"Shin, get out of here. This is far too dangerous for you."

Shin shook his head. "My father and two of my siblings once defeated this jutsu. I'm the only one here that has the power to do so."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's my bloodline limit," Shin explained. "In order to attack something, one must see it. We can see fate. Thus we can attack it."

The revelation shook Kakashi as he gazed at the black eyes. That explained some of the things Shin had managed to do. But was it enough?

"How can you defeat the Fourth when the Third lost his life in defeating the First and Second?"

"I know of a way, but it's incredibly risky. And right now, I'm the only one that can pull it off."

"I see. And what would you need?"

"A distraction. This will take some time to pull off."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll provide it. Now go!"

The two shinobis separated and Kakashi moved to rally the survivors. Orders were issued and the shinobis began moving into formation once again. If Shin really did have a way to defeat this jutsu, they had to give him the time to carry it out. And there was also the fact that Orochimaru was still out there.

Despite the speed in which Yondaime could move, Shin was aware of his exact location. Otherwise this would never work. He thought back to his father's words all those years ago at the anniversary of his sister's death.

"One of the greatest jutsus developed by our family and one that every member of our clan must learn before becoming a jounin. Someday you will master it, Shin, but you are still young. Thus I will say this to you. The jutsu costs the user greatly and can even kill. Your mother was still pregnant with you when your sister died, but she was looking forward to having another brother. That is why I will tell you this. She died using this jutsu to protect her loved ones including you. So never use it lightly or just to prove yourself, my son."

Those words stayed with Shin as he prepared himself. He studied the lines and began moving closer to Yondaime. There was no need to get close in so Shin stayed at a safe distance. However, he did need to get close enough to catch the lines. Chakra focused in his hands and a blue aura surrounded them. For now he wouldn't need the knife. Sheathing it, Shin raced out and zoomed in on the first line. Yondaime was moving about and his target kept shifting. However, Shin stayed on him. At the last moment he focused the chakra and snatched it. The moment he touched the lines a burning sensation rushed through his arms. For a second he thought he had lost the line as it slid across his hands, nearly cutting both of them. But he retained it and squeezed tightly before moving off again.

For an instant Kakashi noticed Yondaime pause and saw Shin reappear. He seemed to grab something before running off and whatever Shin had done threw Yondaime off. Taking this chance, Kakashi rushed forward and attacked, forcing Yondaime into a close-range duel. But before he could summon Chidori, Yondaime's free hand shot forward. It was almost invisible but Kakashi detected the chakra there. He retreated but the Rasengan scrapped his jacket. The burn marks were quite visible and Kakashi was fortunate that the flak jacket had absorbed the glancing blow. Even now Yondaime was still extremely dangerous.

Breathing heavily, Shin felt the strain in his muscles as he retained the line. As he had gotten the main line, the other lines tied to this particular one drifted closer to him and he managed to seize those with relative ease. But now he had to strike for the second primary line. After that, he doubted he would have the strength to go for the third one. The line to the heart and the line to the soul would have to be enough. The line of the mind would be too hard to grasp.

The battle around him was still going rather badly. The Sand and Leaf jounins were doing their best to buy him time but they couldn't hold out forever. Even now bodies dotted the area. Gathering his strength, Shin leapt forward and focused on the second line. There were dozens of other lines from the combatants and it was utter hell sorting through them. But there was no choice left and Shin moved in closer. Now he was in the actual combat zone and if Yondaime so chose to could strike at him. This was an acceptable risk for the time being as Shin finally found his target. He jumped down and went under. Yondaime continued to ignore him and Shin reached out for it. Just as he touched it, the Fourth moved and the line sliced open Shin's hand as it followed. Cursing, Shin retreated again. Orochimaru would obviously know what he was doing and wouldn't make it so easy.

Ignoring the pain, Shin followed and tried to get closer. The only way to avoid the line escaping again was to be close enough to tie it in immediately. Kakashi soon joined him and acted as a guard. The others also fell into formation to keep Yondaime from getting to Shin. Finally he relocated the line and dove in. Yondaime moved again and Shin cursed.

"Don't let him get away!" Shin shouted.

With a nod Kakashi and the others separated and surrounded the Fourth. They unleashed everything they had, trying to keep him in one location. The few extra seconds this bought gave Shin his chance and he seized it. As he took hold the burning sensation erupted and his arms felt like they were on fire. Pain surged throughout his body and his mind began to be overwhelmed. Screaming, Shin forced the two lines together between his hands. With all the chakra that he put forth, the lines that only he could see became visible. It ran down the entire length back to the source. One streamed through Yondaime's heart and the other was wrapped around his body.

"Kakashi! Use Chidori!" Shin screamed, holding the burning lines above him.

Blood erupted from his mouth and his hands were bleeding heavily. The crimson liquid ran down his body and dripped all across the ground. Moving as quickly as he could, Kakashi summoned the Chidori and launched himself. Yondaime also took off and charged towards Shin, the Rasengan at the ready. Everyone else got between the two and desperately fought, knowing that if this didn't work they would die regardless. Kakashi jumped above and dove down, bringing his hand through the point where the two lines intersected.

The chakra from Chidori halted at the intersection as Kakashi fell back. The moment they touched, Yondaime's chest exploded in a shower of blood. His heart was sliced apart and the Fourth fell. However, despite the wounds, everything seemed to be healing.

Shin looked at the bright light above him, fighting the pain as much as he could. With the chakra Kakashi had just supplied him with, he could do this. Forcing out the last of his own reserves, Shin completed the jutsu.

"Shinigami!"

The explosive force threw Shin back several feet and a sickening crack could be heard as he smashed into a tree trunk. The lines shattered and Yondaime's body began peeling away. Light erupted from all over before the final explosion destroyed the outer shell and Kabuto fell to the ground, his chest cavity completely ruptured by Shin's final attack.

Kakashi shielded his eyes as the last of the light dissipated. He had to find Shin quickly. From what the Sharingan had revealed to him, the young shinobi had placed a great deal of strain upon his own body to use that jutsu. If worst came to worst, it might have killed him.

"Impressive."

Looking over, Kakashi cursed as Orochimaru stood before Shin's broken form.

"This one is very worthy. In fact, if Sasuke fails, he would be a good substitute."

"Don't you dare touch him!" Kakashi shouted.

The other shinobis ran forward but Orochimaru simply disappeared. When Kakashi landed before Shin he immediately checked the neck. And there it was, the three point cursed seal that Orochimaru had placed upon Sasuke.

"Damn. We need to move out and regroup with the medic-nins!" Kakashi ordered.

As he looked over Shin's wounds, their severity shocked him. Shin's hands were covered with blood and cuts were over his entire body. There was also a head wound but the most serious was the wound over Shin's heart.

"Hang in there, kid," Kakashi muttered. "We'll get you some help as soon as possible."

Though this battle was concluded, the other one was far from over. As Sasuke charged at the two, the black Chidori vaporized anything that got near it. Naruto and Sakura separated but Sasuke's next move took them completely by surprise. He positioned himself between the two and lifted his hand. The chakra suddenly split and chased after both.

"What the hell?"

"You aren't the only one that's learned some new tricks," Sasuke stated.

As Naruto and Sakura ran, the two charges raced after them. Anything they came in contact with was torn to shreds as the chakra plowed through.

"How are we supposed to defeat that?" Naruto exclaimed.

No matter how fast he ran, the Chidori kept gaining on him. Just as he thought the Chidori would overtake him, two voices came to their rescue.

"Kaiten!"

A blur appeared before Naruto and a similar one in front of Sakura. Both intercepted the twin Chidori and the chakra splashed off. The two figures stopped spinning and Hinata and Neji stood before their comrades.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, surprised to see her here.

"Neji-san!" Sakura was just as shocked.

"I'm sorry we're late," Hinata said. "The others are right behind us."

"The others?"

As Naruto and Sakura looked around they finally noticed the dozens of shinobis around. Leaf and Sand ninjas stood on various branches and among the broken trees. Sasuke looked around and roared at the sight. He took off and charged Naruto and Hinata but a massive gust threw him back. Above all of them Temari stood with her fan at her side.

"Don't think we'll let you try that again," she said.

"Don't hurt him!" Naruto shouted. "We're trying to capture Sasuke!"

With a nod several Sand shinobis jumped down and engaged Sasuke. "Knock him out but don't kill him!"

Sakura joined in and pulled out her remaining needles. No matter how strong Sasuke was, he wouldn't be able to stay conscious if he was struck any more times. None of the other Sand shinobis could land a hit as Sasuke beat them back. But this tactic forced him to remain more or less in the same area. By the time he realized it, it was too late. Sasuke's body froze and the Sand shinobis stopped their attack.

"Capture complete," Shikamaru stated.

However, though his shadow now bound Sasuke, it was evident from the look on his face the strain he was experiencing trying to hold Sasuke. Ino quickly prepared her own jutsu, just in case Sasuke managed to break free. From the looks of it, he was about to do so. With a burst of chakra the shadow dispersed and Shikamaru fell. Though he landed quickly, it was too late to recapture Sasuke. Just as Ino was about to switch bodies, blood leaked out from Sasuke's mouth. The white mane receded and turned black once again and the sickly color disappeared. Sasuke's body returned to normal as the curse seal receded before he finally collapsed.

Sakura rushed over to his side and checked his pulse. With a sigh of relief she nodded to Naruto.

"It looks like the poison finally caught up with him, but he's still alive."

Naruto nodded and looked over at Hinata. "Thanks. You two really saved us back there."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

"We have to get back to Kakashi," Temari suddenly said. "He was fighting Orochimaru when we left."

"Then let's get going," said Naruto.

Another Leaf shinobi was about to pick Sasuke up when they heard movement.

"Someone's coming," Temari stated. "Get ready."

"No need," Neji reported. "It's Kakashi. And it looks like they're carrying Shin."

That statement caught Hinata's attention and she focused her Byakugan to see for herself. She gasped at the sight and took a step back.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked.

No matter how hard she tried, Hinata couldn't find the words to say anything. She only looked pleadingly at Sakura and her comrades quickly figured out for themselves what was wrong. They were proven right moments later as Kakashi and the surviving jounins appeared. Kakashi laid Shin down gently and Sakura immediately bent down to examine him. When her eyes fell to the cursed seal, she gasped.

"Kakashi-sensei, is this…?"

Kakashi nodded. "Orochimaru used a forbidden jutsu and summoned the Fourth Hokage from the dead. Shin did something to destroy what tied the body and soul together and dispelled it. But it nearly killed him. Before we could stop him, Orochimaru got to Shin and placed the seal upon him."

Naruto clenched his fist as he looked at the seal. After Orochimaru placed it on Sasuke, his friend began changing into a monster. Now Shin was another victim.

"We have to finish Orochimaru off as quickly as possible," Kakashi stated. "Naruto, Temari, Neji, assemble the rest of the troops. Leave behind enough to protect Sakura and Shin. The rest of us will go and execute Orochimaru."

With a grim nod the three moved off. Gai bent down and sighed before turning to Kakashi.

"To see so many die so young. It is a waste."

"He isn't dead yet."

The two jounins looked over at Hinata.

"He isn't dead yet," Hinata replied, tears in her eyes. "He promised that he would help me find my heart. I promised that I would give him a chance. He can't die yet."

"He'll make it," Sakura said. "I'll do everything possible. If Shin really was strong enough to defeat the Fourth Hokage, he'll be strong enough to pull through this. And we'll find a way to remove the cursed seal no matter what."

Hinata nodded and knelt down next to Shin. She took his bloodied hand and clutched it tightly, her white eyes gazing sadly at the nearly broken body.

"Hinata, you stay with Sakura and Shin," Kakashi said. "He'll need you when he wakes up."

Wiping away her tears, Hinata nodded again. Sakura was beginning to heal Shin's wounds but the look on her face wasn't encouraging.

"Kakashi-sensei! We're ready to move out!" Naruto shouted.

"All right. This time we're finishing off Orochimaru no matter what."

As the others began following Kakashi Naruto stopped by Hinata and Sakura.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan. Sakura-chan is the best and she'll save him."

"I know, Naruto-kun. Thank you."

Once the others had left the remaining shinobis took defensive positions around the three of them. Sakura focused her chakra again and tried to heal Shin's wounds. To her surprise the internal bleeding closed rather easily and she removed the fluids that were seeping into his lungs. But the burns on his hands refused to go away and the damage to his muscles was extensive. Combined with the cursed seal, Sakura wasn't sure if Shin would live. But as she looked at Hinata, Sakura promised that she would do her best. She got Sasuke back, but it wasn't right that Shin lost his life in the process. Hinata didn't deserve to lose someone precious to her either.

As Sakura tried to devise of some way to stop the cursed seal from spreading over his body, Shin's eyes slowly opened. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"Don't try to speak," Sakura said quickly. "Rest. You'll need to conserve your energy."

It was clear that Shin was in great pain but Sakura didn't have anything to help relieve it. But as his gaze fell to Hinata, a small smile appeared. Hinata tightened her grip on his hand and smiled back gently. Suddenly Shin began suffering from spasms and coughed up more blood. The two chuunins held him down as best they could until he stopped.

"Water!" Sakura shouted. "Someone get me water!"

Finally the cursed seal stopped encroaching over his body. The lines stopped burning but were still visible.

"He won't survive."

The two young women looked over and saw that Sasuke was conscious. Five other chuunins stood by including Shikamaru and Ino. If he tried to attack, both were capable of at the very least slowing him down.

"A weakling like him. I'm surprised Orochimaru wasted the effort."

"You don't even know who he is," Shikamaru said. "Considering he was able to defeat Orochimaru's forbidden summon, I'd say he's stronger than he looks."

Sasuke laughed darkly. "So? You're wasting your time, Sakura. If he isn't strong enough to survive the seal, there's nothing that you can do."

Another chuunin arrived with the water and Sakura used it to wash the blood away. With a grunt Shin tried to sit up.

"Shin-san, no! Stay down!"

Though he relented Shin turned his head and gazed at Sasuke. He closed his eyes and cried out in pain again, forcing the cursed seal back with his own will. Exhaustion was visible in his milky eyes but his mind was racing. He knew of the cursed seal from his family and wasn't about to let it rule his life. Forcing his exhaustion aside, Shin tried to sit up again. This time, knowing how hard he was trying, Hinata and Sakura moved him so he could lean against a tree. He looked over at Sasuke, who was still more or less paralyzed.

"You're pathetic," Shin whispered. "You need the cursed seal. But I do not."

Though Sasuke couldn't hear him, both Hinata and Sakura gave Shin puzzled looks. His eyes suddenly turned black once more and before they could stop him Shin found the strength to lift his arm and place it on the cursed seal. An explosion of blood erupted from his neck and the shockwave threw the two girls back. When they recovered, Hinata was the first to react.

"Shin!"

Both rushed over to him and Sakura immediately started channeling chakra to the point where Shin had tapped himself. Much of the skin had been completely blown off and the muscle was torn in several places. She moved quickly to gather some of Shin's hair and began using that to try to replace what had been destroyed.

"My god," Ino muttered. "Shikamaru, what did he do?"

Her teammate frowned as he analyzed what he had just seen. "If I'm right, Shin just used his own taijutsu on himself to destroy the cursed seal. But that was incredibly risky, especially in the condition he is in now. He must really want to be free from any such influence."

Shikamaru glanced down at Sasuke. The renegade shinobi could only stare at Shin. Not only had he survived the cursed seal, Shin had figured out a way to remove it. Sasuke felt a burning hatred for this newcomer. This seemed impossible. How could the cursed seal, which had given him so much power, be removed so easily? At the moment the poison was the only thing that prevented Sasuke from trying to kill Shin. He would never admit defeat to such a person.

"Sakura-chan, please tell me he'll live," Hinata pleaded.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't die," Sakura promised. "No matter what, he won't die."

Shin's eyes opened and closed as if he was in some kind of trance.

"He's in shock from the pain," Sakura said. "Get my pack of herbs. Do you know how to make a painkiller?"

Hinata nodded and went straight to work. As Sakura regenerated the muscles, she gathered more and more hair. Unfortunately, Shin didn't have long hair like the others so this would be more difficult. Suddenly, the muscle tissue began growing back on its own. It completely ignored the hair that Sakura was transforming and pushed them away. Within seconds the damage was repaired though the skin was still missing. Sakura examined the area and watched as blood flowed through the newly grown tissue. By then Hinata had finished the painkiller and mixed it with some water. She opened Shin's mouth and let small amounts in. Apparently Shin was conscious enough to swallow and didn't choke. The medicine soon took its effect.

By now Sakura had a better idea of what had happened. When she had been pouring chakra into merging new cells, Shin's body had drawn upon it as a source of energy and began replacing what was missing. It was an incredible ability and she quickly took advantage of it. This time Sakura simply allowed controlled amounts of chakra into Shin's body and soon new skin started growing. They completely covered the neck wound and moments later it was as if nothing had happened there. But when she tried to do this with the hands it was to no effect. The cuts and burns didn't want to go away.

"Hinata, help me bandage his hands," Sakura said. "Apply the salves I tell you to when I say so."

Hinata nodded and waited for Sakura's instructions. Working carefully, they applied herbs and other medications into the open cuts and rubbed a salve over the burns. When this was done bandages were wrapped around Shin's hands and upper arms.

"He'll definitely live," Sakura announced.

With a smile Hinata nodded. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

"No problem. I can't believe he did something that stupid. I mean, using his own powers to destroy the curse seal nearly ended up finishing the job the seal started. But Shin was really brave to have done that."

Her patient taken care of, Sakura stood and turned towards Sasuke. They had to keep him subdued until Kakashi and Naruto killed Orochimaru.

Tired from the battle with the Fourth, Kakashi led the group of shinobis back into Sound's perimeter. This time there was no opposition. Hidden Sound's forces had been decimated by the previous few battles. Orochimaru wouldn't have anyone left to hide between. But a thought worried Kakashi. If Orochimaru had managed to call back the Fourth, what kept him from calling back the First and Second, if not the Third? With Shin too injured to help him again, they would be powerless if Orochimaru summoned any more of the Hokages. The only recourse left would be to kill him as quickly as possible.

"When we reach Orochimaru, watch out for traps," Kakashi warned. "He has to be desperate by now."

"It won't matter," Naruto said confidently. "We'll kill him either way."

"This won't be so easy, Naruto," Neji stated. "He did defeat the Third in battle. It will take all of our resources to win."

As the squadrons entered Hidden Sound, they all split up and began searching for Orochimaru. After a while, the groups began meeting up again. It soon became apparent that the corridors all led to the center. By the time they arrived outside of the chamber all of the squadrons were reassembled.

"So Orochimaru is behind this door," Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded. "Most likely. He has no other choice at the moment. Even if he went and tried to retrieve Sasuke, I left him a little surprise."

"Then let's go get him!" Naruto shouted and punched open the door.

All of the other shinobis looked at Naruto and sighed.

"I was hoping that we could sneak up on him," Kakashi said.

Naruto didn't move as the other shinobis marched past him. After he managed to regain his composure, Naruto followed them into the unwelcoming darkness. In there, a sense of dread filled everyone. Even if one couldn't see the enemy, seeing death was rather easy.

The shinobis moved silently as they probed the darkness.

"Enough of this. Fire the flares," Kakashi ordered.

Though firing them would reveal the position of many shinobis, this would open the way for seeing what Orochimaru was trying to hide. When the flares were launched, Kakashi immediately regretted the decision.

"W-what the hell is this?" Naruto muttered.

All around them were vats and tables containing bodies and body parts. Some of them were tied down and had their chests split open. Others had needles poking into every pressure point in their body. Body parts, sliced open and many rotting, filled the room. It was the most gruesome sight Kakashi had ever experienced in his life.

"How do you like my lab?" a voice taunted them. "But then again, fools such as you cannot comprehend the magnificence of my grand plans."

Kakashi looked up and saw Orochimaru surveying them from above. He immediately jumped up, followed by several others. The series of attacks he launched didn't even come close to touching Orochimaru. Even with the Sharingan it was useless. There weren't many options left.

"Senei Jashu!"

Suddenly snakes shot out from Kakashi's sleeves and one sank its fangs into Orochimaru's arm. The others quickly followed and wrapped themselves around the arm. They all then bit down at various places, holding Orochimaru and kept him from moving away.

"I see you have learned a few things from me," Orochimaru sneered.

"Hardly," Kakashi replied. "It's a gift from Anko. She sends her regards, you bastard."

Chakra gathered in the other hand and pure blue lightning sparked. Wasting no time, Kakashi thrust his other hand and struck Orochimaru's chest. An inhuman scream echoed through the chamber as the chidori sliced through Orochimaru's heart. The blast blew a hole in the renegade shinobi and blood splashed over Kakashi. But as Kakashi began to disengage he noticed something wrong.

Without warning snakes came out from Orochimaru's arms and grabbed Kakashi. He tried to break off but the fangs were already in too deep. A bitter laugh came from Orochimaru as he stared at Kakashi with a predatory look.

"You haven't won anything," Orochimaru said. "Just because I haven't gotten Sasuke means nothing. I will still have the Sharingan!"

Suddenly the eyes glazed over and Orochimaru's body went limp. But before Kakashi could escape, a mist appeared from Orochimaru's body and surrounded Kakashi. As much as he struggled, the Copy Ninja couldn't escape. However, he had a clear idea of what Orochimaru was trying to do.

"Naruto!" he shouted. "Orochimaru is trying to take over my body!"

That stopped all the other shinobis.

"Hang on!" Naruto shouted.

"Stay where you are!" Kakashi ordered. "Wait until he takes control, and then use your Rasengan."

The words tore through Naruto's mind like lightning. What Kakashi was ordering him to do was obvious but Naruto found himself unable to accept it.

"No way! There has to be another way!"

"There isn't any time!" Kakashi replied. "This is the only way to ensure that Orochimaru is never allowed to hurt anyone else again. Think of the suffering he has caused, Naruto."

Tears seeped from Naruto's eyes as he looked at his friend and teacher.

"I can't kill you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Don't worry. You won't be killing me. I'll already be dead." With a smile Kakashi looked over at Naruto. "As your sensei, it has been an honor teaching the future Hokage."

With that the shadows completely surrounded Kakashi and flooded into the body. Kakashi fell to the ground and lay motionless for several seconds. Naruto stood there, himself frozen as he looked at the fallen form. Finally, the body twitched. A look of hope came over Naruto's face as he stepped forward.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

When the face came up and the eyes locked onto Naruto, all hope vanished and a pit of despair overwhelmed the chuunin. The eyes were different. Instead of the comforting good humor always in Kakashi's eyes when he looked upon his friends, there was only a coldness and cruelty that Naruto had become too familiar with.

"It's me, Naruto," the body said. "I'm all right. Orochimaru didn't succeed."

Not saying anything, Naruto began making the seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Fifteen more Narutos appeared and all of them surrounded the body. Within seconds, the spheres of the Rasengan were in their hands.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" the body persisted. "It's me, Kakashi."

Hatred overcame Naruto, replacing the despair that had been there only moments before.

"Don't you dare say another word," Naruto said icily. "You'll pay for what you've done, Orochimaru!"

All pretenses dropped as Orochimaru threw a kunai at the real Naruto. However, Naruto simply ducked and let the weapon create a shallow cut on his arm. Each of the Narutos held up their Rasengans and the swirling spheres erupted.

"Dai Uzumaki Rasengan!" sixteen voices shouted.

The vortex surrounded Orochimaru and trapped him at the center. No matter how hard he tried, nothing would allow him to escape. Even summons failed as the chakra and air disrupted his seal making. The eye became smaller and smaller until Orochimaru could barely fit in. With tears nearly blinding him, Naruto collapsed the entire vortex into the center. The swirling air rippled and sliced through the center. Lines of sharp air moved through and began disintegrating the body. Each line took a part away or cut something. They all hit at almost the exact moment and it was over in a second. When the wind stopped blowing, a massive spot of blood was sprayed at what was the eye. There wasn't even any body parts left from the full force of the Rasengan.

With a puff the other Narutos disappeared and the real one stood there dumbly. He had done the unthinkable. He had killed his teacher and one of his best friends. Falling to his knees, the tears began flowing uncontrollably from Naruto's eyes. He cried out and collapsed, unable to accept what had just happened.

Images of old times with Kakashi raced through his mind. The man that had trained them into true shinobis, who had been like a father to Naruto. The man that saved his life so many times. The man that he had just killed with his own hands.

End of Chapter 5

Now I know people are going to be pissed at me for killing Kakashi like that. But that's what happens in war. And as people from the EVA fandom know, I'm notorious for killing off characters. At least one other person will die before the end of this arc, so be prepared.

Z98


	7. Chapter 6

I realized that I made several mistakes regarding time and such in this story. I'll correct them later on, but for now I'm going to adjust the story as the way it should be.

War of Love

Chapter 6: Recovery

A light rain pounded upon the roof of the Konoha hospital. Today it was even more crowded than usual, with dozens of injured Leaf shinobis being treated here. Medical ninjas ran about inside, supervising and conducting surgeries. Even Tsunade and Shizune had come down to help. Many lives had been lost in battle and now wasn't a time to let any more slip away.

Deeper in the hospital, connected to life support, lay Sentoki Shin. After returning to Leaf, Shin had fallen into a coma. No one knew when or if he would wake up, but one person did have faith in him. Hinata sat by his side and laid her head down. She hadn't left Shin for three days now. So many people had been lost and several more might not make it. Shin was on the threshold of life and death right now. Despite the fact that most of his wounds had healed, not including his hands, something was keeping the shinobi from awakening. Even Tsunade was perplexed as to why Shin remained unconscious. But there wasn't much they could do at the moment except wait.

In another part of the hospital, surrounded by ANBU guards and several jounins, another patient was in his bed. But this one was restrained to keep him down. Tsunade stood above the bed as the young man simply glared at her.

"We went through a lot of trouble to save you, Uchiha Sasuke. Many people also gave their lives for you."

"I didn't ask to be saved by the likes of you," Sasuke spat.

"Oh? So you wanted Orochimaru to take over your body?"

Sasuke didn't respond and looked away.

Losing her temper, Tsunade grabbed hold of Sasuke's collar and nearly tore him out of the restraints.

"You don't seem to understand anything," she snapped. "When Orochimaru couldn't take over your body, he took over Kakashi. In order to keep you safe, Naruto had to kill his teacher and friend. Do you feel no remorse for that?"

"A pity I didn't do that. It would have simply helped me achieve my potential."

Throwing him down, Tsunade did her best to contain her anger. "You want to become stronger? In the time that you spent with Orochimaru, did you really become stronger? Without your curse seal, Naruto and Sakura would have defeated you, and they were holding back to keep from killing you. Even with your curse seal, you couldn't overcome the poison that Sakura had made. And what's more, despite your claim that only superior shinobis can survive the curse seal, Shin, a shinobi that still can't fully control his bloodline limit destroyed the seal Orochimaru put on him. Does that put things into perspective for you?"

Sasuke refused to answer and Tsunade turned away in disgust. There was no getting through to him right now.

"As of now, your fate is still undecided," said Tsunade. "Many of the feudal lords and several other jounins are pressing for your execution. At the moment, I'm holding off on that. However, if you give us any more trouble I won't hesitate to order it."

Again Sasuke ignored her words Tsunade let out a sigh and walked out of the room. There were other matters to attend to, including a comatose Shin and an emotionally devastated Naruto. Shin was a shinobi from an ally country and Naruto was very much like her little brother. She wasn't about to let him beat himself up for doing what was necessary.

"Tsunade-sama."

"Huh? Oh, Shizune. Something wrong?"

The medical ninja shook her head as she kept pace with her teacher. "I wouldn't say something is wrong, but it is interesting. I was examining Sentoki-san earlier when they brought him in. This is the first time we've ever had the chance to see how Orochimaru's curse seal affects a body. But from what I've learned, Sentoki-san wouldn't have survived."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems that the curse seal unlocks the person's chakra reserves, flooding their entire body. This can have detrimental effects on the person unless they are strong enough to survive the initial stages. As the chakra infiltrates every system in the body, it can almost burn the internal organs. Sasuke-san was strong enough to survive, but Sentoki-san's body is different."

"Different?" said Tsunade. "How much different can it be?"

Shizune gave her a look. "Tsunade-sama, in all my years as a medical ninja, I have never seen anything like it."

With that Shizune handed Tsunade a journal.

"These are my observations," she said. "You'll want to look over them. But if I'm right, it seems that Shin's action in destroying the curse seal was forced out of desperation. If he didn't, it is likely the curse seal would have killed him."

"All right," said Tsunade. "I'll look over this later. Right now I'm going to have a chat with Naruto."

"How has he been?"

"Sleeping a lot," Tsunade answered. "Sakura's been helping him as best she can but she's also spending some time with Uchiha. Not that I see much use for that."

"I see. Tsunade-sama, do you think Uchiha-san will be a problem?"

"He already is a problem. Uchiha refuses to admit defeat and until he does so he won't be of any help to Hidden Leaf. If it comes down to it, I may have to order his execution."

"But Tsunade-sama! What about his friends?"

"I'm not sure he sees them as friends anymore, Shizune. I don't want to do this, but my duty as the Hokage is to protect the village."

Shizune remained silent as she walked with Tsunade through the hospital. Hidden Leaf had lost almost a dozen chuunins as well as two jounins. Hidden Sand had suffered even greater losses. However, as two of the most powerful shinobi villages, their alliance remained unchallenged, especially considering they had wiped out another Hidden Village that had threatened them. For now they would have the peace needed to recover.

Moments later Shizune moved off to continue her work. Tsunade entered the room where Naruto was resting and found Sakura sitting by his side. The shinobi nodded to her teacher but kept her attention on the resting young man.

"How has he been sleeping?" Tsunade asked.

"For most of the day," Sakura answered. "I think Naruto is trying to keep from waking up."

Tsunade nodded. "Sakura, go try and talk some sense into that boy. I need a few moments alone with Naruto."

Sakura knew full well who 'that boy' was. Even now, Tsunade wasn't too happy about losing Kakashi in this operation. Sakura also felt a bit resentful towards Sasuke for everything he had put them through. With a simple nod Sakura walked out of the room, leaving Tsunade with Naruto.

As the premier medical ninja, Tsunade had many tricks to wake up patients, especially those that didn't need sleep. However, at times like this she chose to be more direct. Tsunade brought her fist down like a boulder and it might very well have broken Naruto's neck if he hadn't jumped out of the way.

"What the hell was that for!" he screamed. "You could have killed me!"

"So you weren't asleep," said Tsunade. "But then again, would you really have left yourself get killed?"

Naruto said nothing and simply stood there.

"You did what you had to do, Naruto."

"I killed him," Naruto shot back. "I killed Kakashi-sensei. How can you say I had to do that!"

"You didn't kill him. Orochimaru did and you killed Orochimaru. That is what happened. Why can't you understand that?"

"I couldn't help him! I trained for over two years and when it happened, I wasn't able to do anything."

"Wrong," said Tsunade. "You were able to free Uchiha. Not only that, you defeated one of the most dangerous missing ninjas that Konoha has ever faced. That was a war, Naruto. There are casualties in war. No matter how great your power, sometimes people die. But the greatest insult to their deaths is if you make them meaningless. So pick yourself up and be a man. Kakashi died to protect Konoha. Act as Konoha's guardian in his place, Naruto."

Naruto lowered his head and sat back down on the bed. "I dream of being the Hokage. That means protecting the village and its people."

"It also means knowing how to deal with losing people you care about," said Tsunade. "Every day I send people out on missions, knowing that some of them might not come back. Though I love every single member of this village, I can't coddle them. People only grow through hardship. Can you do the same, Naruto?"

Slowly, Naruto nodded. As much as he didn't want to think about it, Tsunade had made a good point. With some effort Naruto forced a smile onto his face.

"Hey, Tsunade-obachan. When did you learn how to make speeches like that?"

"Hmph. Don't make presumptions, Naruto. I am the Hokage after all."

The two shared a laugh and the moment lingered. But the momentary peace was quickly disrupted when Shizune opened the door.

"Tsunade-sama! Sentoki-san is awake!"

The franticness in Shizune's tone said it all.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade immediately asked, the smile disappearing.

"Come quickly!"

Naruto found the energy to follow them and the three ran down the hallways. When they got to Shin's room, three ANBU members were already outside.

"What's going on?" Tsunade demanded.

"Hokage-sama. We sensed a large amount of chakra from this room."

"Move out of the way!" Tsunade ordered.

When she opened the door, all of them just stared. Shin was standing shirtless in the middle of the room and going through hand seals at an incredible rate. Hinata stood at the side but she didn't seem afraid of what was going on.

"Sentoki!" Tsunade shouted. "What the hell are you doing!"

A second later Shin clapped his hand together. "Genesis of Fate!"

Blue chakra burst out from his hands and the bandages were blown away. The deep cuts dripped blood and a puddle began collecting around his feet. But slowly the bleeding stopped, though the gashes remained. Upon completion of the jutsu, Shin immediately collapsed. Hinata ran over quickly and caught him before laying him back on the bed. Shin was breathing hard but was still conscious.

The three shinobis could only stare as Hinata pulled out more bandage wrap and some herbs. Tsunade was the first to speak.

"What the hell did you just do!"

"Please don't be so loud," Hinata said, catching the three by surprise. "Shin-kun woke up a few minutes ago and said he had to do that. His hands wouldn't stop bleeding and he said this was the only way to stop it."

Naruto walked over and looked at Shin. The young man had closed his eyes again but kept breathing heavily.

"Yo, Panda Eyes, what the hell was that jutsu?"

"Was it a healing jutsu?" Shizune asked Tsunade.

The Fifth Hokage shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it before, but I know it's not a healing jutsu. No, the chakra didn't even touch the cells of his body."

"Then how did he stop the bleeding when even we couldn't?"

"A good question," said Tsunade. "Shizune, stay here with Sentoki and find out what he did once he's gained enough energy to speak. And help Hinata with his wounds. It looks like he reopened a few when he used that jutsu."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

With one last glance at Shin, Tsunade grabbed Naruto and pulled him out of the room. Before he could protest Tsunade closed the door behind them.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked.

"That's what I intend to find out," said Tsunade. "Sentoki is hiding many things from us."

Tsunade walked off, clutching the book that Shizune had given her. Perhaps the answer lay in these pages.

It took little time to reapply all of the bandages that had come undone. But by the time they were finished, Shin had fallen asleep again.

"He must have used up all of his chakra for that jutsu," Shizune commented.

Hinata nodded. "Shin was desperate. He said he could feel himself dying and that was the only way to stop it."

"Dying because of the curse seal?"

"I don't know," said Hinata. "But I believe Shin-kun. He wouldn't have risked something like that unless he really was in trouble."

Shizune nodded. Though she still didn't know much about Shin, she wasn't sure how far her trust went. Shin's body was different from anything she had examined before. It had to be another adaptation around their bloodline limit. There were many mysteries that surrounded the Sentoki line. Why was it that so few people even knew of them? As the Hokage's assistant, she had gleaned some documents from Hidden Waterfall. Though they weren't high on the list of names, someone of the Sentoki family always signed these messages.

"From what I heard, Sentoki-san managed to defeat one of Orochimaru's greatest jutsus," said Shizune. "He's an incredible young man. You're certainly lucky to have him."

Hinata blushed. "It's not like that, Shizune-san."

"Oh? Sentoki-san seems to think the world of you. Don't you feel something for him?"

"I'm not sure," Hinata replied. "Shin-kun reached out to me, but I don't know how I feel."

"You said you believed in him, right?"

"Of course!"

"Well then, what is it that you believe in him?"

Hinata couldn't find an answer and remained silent. Until she had one, Hinata knew that her heart wouldn't rest.

Tsunade finally found a spot where she could sit down and look at the report. Though she normally avoided doing serious work, in cases such as this she wouldn't hold anything back. After reading through the first page of Shizune's observations, Tsunade froze and became completely unaware of anything except what was on these pages.

"That's impossible," she muttered.

By the third page Tsunade began wondering whether Shin was really human or not. Even though Shizune couldn't see the inner coils system, she could still gain a basic idea of that person's system because of her medical training. However, apparently Shizune hadn't even been able to find that system. That is, until she looked at another place.

Tsunade closed the book once she finished reading the log and rubbed her forehead. This was becoming more and more of a headache. Once Shin was conscious enough to answer questions, she was going to grill him for answers. But right now she had to see if Sakura was making any progress with Sasuke. Out of all the shinobis, Sakura was the most likely to break through.

Tsunade dropped the book into a pocket and walked back to Sasuke's room. The ANBU members continued to patrol, taking note of her presence but not letting it interfere with their duties. They were all good shinobis. Nothing would get in or out without their permission.

The moment Tsunade opened the door she could hear yelling. In fact, she had heard muffled voices ever since entering this part of the hospital. Now with the door open, the intensity multiplied.

"Kakashi-sensei gave his life to save you!" Sakura screamed. "Shin-san's in a coma and several other shinobis died for this mission. What right do you have to be so arrogant about all this!"

"You didn't save me from anything," Sasuke shouted back. "I was getting stronger, far stronger than I would have become if I had stayed in Konoha."

"Stronger? For what? So you could kill your friends?"

"You got in my way," said Sasuke. "If you hadn't come, that battle would have never taken place."

"Yes it would have! You know what Orochimaru wanted to do! He wanted to destroy Konoha! If we hadn't come, he would have tried again."

"If Konoha fell, it would have been your fault for being too weak."

A sharp sound echoed in the room as Sakura struck Sasuke. Though she used her normal strength, the slap left a deep red mark on his face.

"And how have you gotten stronger?" Sakura demanded. "Has the curse seal really made you stronger?"

"You would not have been able to defeat me on your own," Sasuke said confidently. "It took two of you to match my strength. In the end, you needed your comrades to defeat me. That's evidence enough."

"So you'll continue to use the curse seal and let yourself die? How are you supposed to revive your clan then?"

"What's the point of reviving my clan if he's still alive?"

Both stared at each other, neither backing down.

"Well, that was quite a show you two put on."

Sakura broke out of the glare and finally noticed Tsunade.

"Sh-shishou…"

Tsunade nodded to her apprentice. "Sakura, from now on it'll be your duty to watch over Uchiha. Do not let him get out of control."

"Yes Shishou."

"As for you, it's time we did something about that curse seal."

Sasuke glared at her, as if daring her to try.

"Though I cannot remove it like Sentoki did, I can ensure that it will be absolutely useless."

Tsunade walked over and went through possibly a dozen hand seals. Without the Sharingan activated, Sasuke wasn't sure what she was doing. Suddenly she slapped her hand down on the curse seal. It activated and Sasuke screamed out in pain. The green healing chakra surrounded the curse seal and moved inward. It seeped into each of the three dots and those too began glowing. However, a few seconds later the green light disappeared and to Sakura's surprise the curse seal went with them. Sasuke stopped screaming and immediately fell unconscious.

"Shishou, what did you do?" Sakura asked.

"Thanks to Sentoki, we know a little more about the curse seal," said Tsunade. "The curse seal is a poison mixed with Orochimaru's blood. There isn't really any way to remove the blood, but any poison has its antidotes. I simply changed Sasuke's body chemistry to neutralize the poison naturally. He won't be able to use that seal for more power anymore."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Tsunade-shishou."

"Look after him well, Sakura. Even without the Sharingan, Uchiha is dangerous."

With the major matters taken care of for the day, Tsunade left the hospital for her office. There were still preparations for the memorial service to be taken care of.

Rain was pounding away at Hidden Leaf the next day, reminding many of the funeral held for the Third and all those who died in the first battle against Sound and Sand. Shin looked out the window and felt the wetness surrounding the hospital. It felt almost like home, though the water Hidden Waterfall was more serene.

Hinata walked in moments later, carrying his breakfast. She set the tray down across Shin's lap and smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Shin replied. "It doesn't feel like my body's on fire anymore."

Hinata took a seat next to her fiancé and watched him eat.

"What happened yesterday?" she asked. "You performed a jutsu even though you were really hurt. That was really dangerous."

Shin stopped eating and put the chopsticks down. "I didn't want to die."

"What?"

Shin looked sadly at Hinata. "I guess it's my family's curse. That jutsu I used damaged my fate. If I hadn't done something yesterday, I doubt I would be alive right now."

"Then why did you use that jutsu?" Hinata asked.

"Because I didn't want you to die either," said Shin. "If we hadn't defeated Orochimaru, no one would have survived. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself for not doing everything I could. Besides, that's what shinobis do, isn't it? Risk their lives?"

Hinata was speechless for a while as Shin resumed eating. However, she did find the word she was searching for.

"Thank you."

Shin nodded and put the tray aside. He had eaten less than half of the food but it was still hard finding enough energy to stay awake for very long. Despite that, tears soon came out of his eyes again.

"Shin-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know," Shin muttered. "Whenever I'm strong enough to stay awake this long, the tears come. I can't stop myself."

"You're safe now," Hinata assured him. It felt weird to be trying to calm someone else, but Hinata didn't want to see him in pain like this.

"I don't want to die. But I saw death."

Hinata froze. "What?"

"That jutsu is called the Shinigami for a reason," said Shin. "And I saw Death. I wonder if my siblings and my father all saw it when they used the jutsu."

"But you're alive, Shin-kun," said Hinata. "You're with me right now."

"For now at least. There's another reason why that jutsu isn't used very often."

"Oh?"

"I said my fate was damaged when I used it. No matter what, fate cannot be completely repaired. Who knows how many years I just shaved off my life."

The words struck her. "What?"

"It's the curse of my clan. My father is currently in his forties. He's said it himself many times. He doubts he'll see his fiftieth birthday."

"What?"

Shin shrugged. "He's been forced to use the Shinigami several times and I've only used it once. But I did it in a rather clumsy way, so I don't know the full effects."

Not finding any words, Hinata suddenly found herself hugging Shin, knocking the tray to the ground. The young man was surprised to say the least.

"Hey now, it's not like I'm going anywhere soon," he said as he returned the hug.

"Why do you have that kind of fate?" Hinata asked, tears of her own forming.

"I'm not afraid of my fate," said Shin. "Besides, I intend to live a long life with you."

"No, you won't die because of your fate," Hinata said stubbornly. "You'll die of old age. You won't die because of some stupid jutsu!"

Shin smiled and took the time to enjoy the embrace. Though he had always cared deeply about Hinata, it was nice to see her feelings finally returning the love.

"Naruto-kun taught both me and Neji-niisan something," said Hinata. "It's that you make your own fate. You can do that too, Shin-kun."

"I hope you're right," said Shin. "Hmm, I guess that Naruto isn't so bad after all."

With those last words Shin felt himself drift off once again. It would be a while before he fully recovered, and until then unconsciousness would always conquer him. Hinata laid him back down as he closed his eyes and wiped away her tears. As long as she was alive, she was determined to make a difference. Maybe she could make one in Shin's life.

As Hinata went about cleaning up the mess, the door opened and Tsunade entered.

"I see he's still asleep again," she said.

Hinata nodded. "Shin-kun is still recovering from using the Shinigami."

"That must be one hell of a jutsu if it did that to him."

Again only a nod. Hinata wasn't about to tell Tsunade what Shin had confided in her.

"Well, I still need to talk to him. Oh, by the way, a package came for Sentoki from Hidden Waterfall."

"Really? Did his family send him something?"

Tsunade nodded. "Apparently, after reading my report, Sentoki is being considered for promotion to jounin. Though they're probably still thinking it over, his family did send something to congratulate him."

With that Shizune walked in presented Hinata with a katana in its sheath. The hilt was practical and beautiful at the same time. At the end was the head of a dragon while the body wrapped around the handle, providing positions where the hand would fit perfectly. Even the hand-guard had been worked into the dragon design and the two sides acted as the dragon's claws. The sheath itself was plain but when she pulled the sword out Hinata gasped. The sword was obviously blue steel and shone beautifully in the light. Near the hand-guard a design of a lily was engraved on. The lily was slightly buffed on both sides and all in all the katana was a magnificent weapon.

"This is beautiful," Hinata muttered.

"That it is," Tsunade agreed. "If Sentoki knows how to use this sword, he'll be formidable indeed. Take good care of him, Hinata."

With a bow Hinata sheathed the katana once more. Out in the hallway Shizune immediately began questioning her mentor.

"Are you sure about not telling Hinata the rest of the message?"

"The part about he's being considered for jounin if he survives?" Tsunade asked. "Of course. You've seen how much Hinata cares for Sentoki. And from the looks of it, he will survive. So why worry her needlessly?"

"I guess you're right," said Shizune. "Still, it feels wrong concealing things from her when they're about her own fiancé."

"Hinata is stronger than she gives herself credit for. Just trust her. Besides, we still have a memorial to finish planning for."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama."

When Shin awakened the next time, Hinata showed him the sword with a smile. But that soon disappeared as a shocked expression overcame Shin's face.

"Shin-kun? Is something wrong?"

It looked as if Shin had seen a ghost, but he shook it off.

"Nothing. Sorry I worried you, Hinata-hime."

Hinata looked at the sword once more before handing it to Shin.

"It's just that, well, this is my sister's sword."

"Your sister?"

Shin nodded. "My oldest sister, Yuri. She was killed during the battle with the Akatsuki."

"Oh," Hinata muttered softly.

"It's okay. There's no way you could have known. I doubt my family would have mentioned in any message they sent."

"Oh! There was a message! They said that you're being considered for a jounin."

"Is that so," said Shin. "Well, that'll probably take another year before that comes to pass."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Simple," said Shin. "I'm not qualified to be a jounin yet. They're only considering it. I'll have to prove myself again a few more times."

"You're not going to use that jutsu again, are you?" Hinata asked softly.

"No, nothing that dramatic," said Shin. "I doubt I'll be able to use that jutsu again for another year. If I tried, I'd probably kill myself."

Hinata let out a sigh before catching that last part. Her second sigh was one of sadness. But she vowed Shin wouldn't have to use that jutsu again for a long time. She wouldn't let him.

Stretching a bit, Shin threw aside the sheets and stood.

"Shin-kun! Are you sure you're strong enough?"

Shin nodded. "A few days worth of sleep does wonders for the body."

The moment those words came out of his mouth his stomach began growling.

"Though I could use some food," he said with a sheepish smile.

"If you feel strong enough, we can check out and go home," said Hinata. "I'm sure the cooks can make you something."

"That'd be nice."

A week had passed since Shin left the hospital. Every shinobi of Konoha stood assembled in the massive platform. The sun shone on an uncharacteristically good day, but no one really enjoyed it. Shin stood by Hinata's side, wearing the Hidden Waterfall's forehead protector. He had participated in the battle and would pay homage to those who didn't make it. But in reality, Shin was terrified of death. Being at a memorial to honor the dead made him uneasy. He clutched the handle of the katana and looked up at the pictures. A pity a certain someone wasn't also up there.

There were still tasks for him to perform. It would only be a matter of time now. Shin looked at the picture of the Copy Ninja. A great shinobi, he would certainly have been an obstacle. Shin's eyes turned black once more and he looked around. All the lines were clearly visible, but he concentrated on three that tied to one person. They burned with the chakra that surrounded them. It would be difficult, but the Shinigami would be enough. Now he only had to wait.

End of Chapter 6

Z98


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